(Disclaimer: All opinions stated here are my own and do
not imply any official endorsement by the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association)
T
hings have been lively in and around the neighborhood this
past month, with developments involving Superduplexes and
possible revision to the rules governing them, and the
Hyde Park Baptist Church's law suit probably nearing an
end but not quite arriving there; but here I will focus
on possible developments involving Fire Station #9 at
Speedway and 43rd Street.
Hyde Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA)
Co-President Bruce Nadig and I recently became aware
that plans were under consideration for changes at
Station #9. This happened when informed insiders leaked
word. When I called the Fire Department to ask about
this I was surprised to be swiftly offered a meeting
with the Department leadership. Bruce and I have now
had two meetings with Austin Fire Chief Gary
Warren. Chief Warren tells us that the city
administration has now
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
approved his plan to substitute a new "mini-pumper" truck
for the present engine. The mini-pumper is to have a
two-person crew that constitutes a
Some of the maps we have seen from the AFD this time show Station #9 closed... "Squad" in Fire Department terminology, in place of the engine's four person "Company". The mini-pumper is a heavy-duty pickup truck chassis with dual rear tires and four wheel drive. It will have a pump with a four hundred gallon per minute capacity and an on-board water tank with three hundred gallons for quick attacks on smaller fires. In contrast the Pierce brand engine (also called a "pumper") presently assigned to Station #9 has a 1250-gallon per minute pump and an on-board tank for 500 gallons of water. Clearly this is a reduction in capacity and capability. In addition, the Fire Department operates under a so-called "two in and two out" rule for burning buildings. This requires that if a building is substantially "involved" with a fire, a least two additional fire fighters outside the building must back up a two-person team entering the building to fight the fire. This means that if the proposed Squad 9 arrives on the scene of a burning building and determines that there are no people inside to be rescued, the two fire fighters may not enter the building to carry out an interior attack on the fire until a second truck from another station arrives. This limitation does not apply to the current Engine and its four-person crew. According to Chief Warren, there are two exceptions to this rule: 1) if there are people inside to be rescued, and, 2) if the fire is at a very early stage, like a grease fire on a stove that has not yet |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
spread much. The Fire Department leadership also emphasizes
that the Squad would attempt to attack a larger fire from
outside the building by directing a hose through a window
or door until the second truck arrives with reinforcements.
They also point out that the Austin Fire Department's
standard practice is to dispatch three engines and two
ladder trucks to ANY structure fire rather than relying on
the first unit to call in a second alarm after its arrival
as is done in some other cities. The central reason for the proposed down-sizing of our station and why the AFD believes the remaining level of protection will still be adequate is that the area covered by Station #9 substantially overlaps the coverage areas for several adjacent stations, principally Station 3 on 30th Street but also Station Continued on page 4
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||