The early fight to save the Providence Street fire station

By Chet Williamson

While the closing of the Providence Street fire station remains only a rumor, local citizens, neighborhood groups and firefighters are preparing for the worst.

"It came in the form of more of a rumor," says Lt. Donald Courtney, who is not only a firefighter assigned to the station, but lives in the neighborhood. "This came from high-ranking Fire Department officials. It was more like; this is probably what's going to happen."

According to Courtney, this "high ranking" official told personnel assigned to the station about the specifics of the plan. The unknown source said that upon completion of the Franklin Street Fire Station, "Engine 12" would move from Providence Street to the new station and "Ladder 5" would be transferred to the McKeon Road Fire Station.

Courtney, vice president of the Worcester Firefighters Union, says if that's the plan, it is unacceptable; he says moving the firefighters to other stations is a matter of safety.

"It's a high fire incident district up here on the top of Vernon Hill, Union Hill, Grafton Hill," he says. "If you are having us arrive later in the fire, then you are putting firefighters in danger. I also have concerns as a resident. Is that going to lead to a significant response delay?"

Located at 100 Providence St., the 100-plus-year-old station is listed on the National Register of Historical Places. In February, members of The Providence Street Crime Watch Group met at the Oak Hill CDC to discuss ways and means to save the station.

"Older folks in the neighborhood, who felt strongly about the closing, expressed their concerns and people talked about sending letters to the editors. Two have done so already," says Paul Hernandez, a community and youth organizer at Oak Hill.

Lt. Donald Courtney wants to save the Providence Street fire station.

A youth group called "Teen Inspirators" also attended the meeting. "They have decided that they want to take this on as a project and have developed a petition," says Hernandez.

Seventeen year-old Axl Mora is a member of the group. He lives around the corner from the station on Dorchester Street. He says he got involved with the project after meeting the firefighters and getting a tour of the station. "It had an impact on me," Mora says. "Most of the men have been there for years and some of them grew up in the area. I live in the area."

Mora says the teen group is in the process of collecting signatures for their petition, which they will take to the City Council. "We wrote a little statement of what the fire station means to us and what we can do to save it — let them the know facts," he says.

The neighborhood is in City Councilor Paul Clancy's district, who has already posed the question at City Hall. "I asked for a report as to what the plans are from the fire chief," he says. "It came in on the last economic development agenda in February. Hopefully we can get the report, and then we can send it to public safety."

Clancy has his own concerns.

"We need to see what type of deployment we have at McKeon Road, Providence Street and when the new Franklin Street station opens," he says. "The new site is going to have to cover a great deal of Grafton Hill and that lower section of Plantation Street to UMass. To rely on them to go to Vernon Hill, I don't think that is plausible."

He also notes the tracks near McKeon Road.

"There are some serious issues about timing," he says. "I'm not sure how often the train goes through. It crosses on Blackstone River Road and the new McKeon Road extension. In order for the McKeon Road fire truck to get right up to Providence Street, if a train is blocking the tracks, you would have to go down McKeon Road to Cambridge Street, then up to Vernon Hill. That's pretty circuitous. In an emergency, time is everything."

Clancy says he's heard from his constituency, but feels filing a petition at this time would be premature.

"The [Franklin Street] station is not going to be done for at least another year," he says. "This is a good time to look at the stats. Have the Public Safety Committee talk to the fire chief and see what we can do to keep Providence Street open."

Although the completion of the Franklin Street station is not slated until the end of 2009, the rumor mill has the first phase of the Providence Street station closing by July 1 of this year. Courtney says, for the neighborhood, the city and the 32 other firefighters stationed at Providence Street, it's time to make an announcement on the matter.

"We need to know if it is true," Courtney says. "You shouldn't let the people in the area live in doubt. Is it going to be there tomorrow?"

Chief Gerard Dio did not return our phone calls. o