Cassandra Day
The Middletown Press, Conn.
(TNS)
Oct. 18—MIDDLETOWN — The Middletown Fire Department is looking into the feasibility of establishing a third station in the northern area of the city near the Cromwell town line not only to improve response time but also to handle new developments popping up on Route 3.
An analysis of the department and its infrastructure needs will be conducted to determine the best way to proceed.
A few things generated the idea, including the time it takes for downtown engines to travel to calls via Newfield Street (Route 3), a main route that is often congested, according to newly appointed Fire Chief Dave Albert.
Lack of space is also a significant consideration.
Middletown High School and other school buses cause heavy traffic on Route 3 twice daily, accidents can tie up two-lane Newfield Street, and rush hour often reduces travel to a crawl.
Like the city’s emergency dispatch center for fire, police, and medical emergencies surpassed its space capabilities years ago, causing cramped conditions, Albert said, so has the aging 533 Main St. firehouse built in 1899.
“We’re trying to come up with creative ways to maximize the space we have for the most frugal price,” he said.
A third station in the northern portion of the city has been needed for the past 15 years, the chief said. “It’s a big bite of the elephant to take on, per se,” he admitted.
“Tuttle Road, Little River (Lane), Woodlot (Lane) — that’s pretty much at the Cromwell line. Now, with all the developments going in on Newfield Street and added traffic, it’s even more imperative that we finally get that third station to make sure our response time meets industry standards,” he explained.
One of those developments is Springside Middletown off Newfield Street, where a 148-unit campus of apartment buildings and townhouses is under construction.
“Two cars a unit, maybe more, families are living there, husband and wife — all those on Newfield Street, plus more developments. That engine right now comes from downtown, and it’s got to go all the way to Tuttle Road,” some 4 miles away, the chief said.
“With more cars comes more chances of it happening,” Albert continued. “It’s only a two-lane road, and you’re going to add a lot more traffic there just for our fire trucks to get down safely. That’s another reason we want that third station on the opposite end.”
Fire vehicles often use busy Washington Street (Route 66) to get to Route 3. “We have to make sure we are eliminating that risk and making sure we can respond in a timely manner to any emergencies out that way,” he said.
Engine 1 at the Main Street station serves the downtown, North End, and some of Church Street, while Engine 3 covers Washington and Newfield streets to Tuttle Road.
Middletown Fire’s Cross Street Station 2 responds to emergencies at Wesleyan University, the blue section of the Wesleyan Hills housing development, South Main Street, Long Hill Road, and Wadsworth Street.
It’s out-of-date, has far outgrown its footprint, and was built some 50 years ago, Albert said.
“These stations once only housed four people max, where at (headquarters), we have seven to eight that live here 24/7, plus eight additional day staff members, so the (foot traffic) all day long is pretty high,” Albert said.
Cross Street has seven staff members plus several dispatchers, he said.
“We need a new roof, better air handling systems. Everything is very outdated,” the chief explained.
Cross Street still has its original roof, he added. “We have water intrusions with certain types of storms. That’s going to be one of my main focuses in the city.”
The department will eventually need to reconfigure which vehicles service which areas.
“Once this happens, if it comes to fruition, we would have to better adjust our response models because if I have an engine on Newfield Street, it wouldn’t be beneficial to come all the way down Newfield to 66, and then all the way up 66 to Boston Road,” Albert said.
Another station would also put less stress on fire vehicles, the chief said. “The engine that goes to that long response (to Newfield) does the most mileage a year, so by having the station, we’ll reduce the wear and tear on that apparatus.”
No location has been discussed yet, but the department is in talks with two property owners in that area.
The city has two other fire companies, one in the Westfield section of town and South Fire, a separate tax district created by the state legislature in the late 1950s.
For more information, go to middletownct.gov/179/Fire.
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