The battle has been won. The Laddertruck will remain at Station 21, located at 71st and Keystone.

For months, I along with firefighters, neighborhood groups and individual residents have been fighting the city’s budget driven decision to remove the Laddertruck from Station 21 at 71st and Keystone.  The Laddertruck is a vital fire fighting apparatus as the firefighters assigned to it are tasked with performing search and rescue operations inside of a burning building.  Additionally, the aerial ladders can reach rooftops and floors of multi story buildings.

The quantity of high rise office buildings, numerous densely populated apartment and condominium complexes, shopping malls, hospitals, and schools makes the north side a high fire risk area.  Response times are critical for good fire protection. The premise that two remaining laddertrucks could cover runs over a wide geographic swath of Washington Township was overly optimistic. Response times would have suffered at potential great cost of life and property.

For a long time, this seemed an unwinnable battle, but as of yesterday, we have a solid promise from Mayor Ballard that the laddertruck will remain at Station 21.

Thank you to all who signed petitions.  Thank you to neighborhood  organizations that signed and sent resolutions to the mayor’s office protesting the decision.  Thank you, firefighters, who courageously risked their livelihoods to bring this matter before the public.

 

Christine Scales