Relocation of Cherrydale Fire Station
update in August, 2003: the committee has narrowed their selection down to three sites. Soon, the committee will be presenting their list to the County Board for consideration. Hopefully some time this fall we will have a better idea as to the County's plans for the Cherrydale firestation.
update
from June 14, 2003: the Cherrydale firehouse #3
relocation committee has now identified 6 possible locations for a new
firehouse. They are:
1) Brown Honda lot
2) Cherrydale Station (NE corner Lee Hwy and Pollard)
3) The Bromptons/Nichols site (next to the existing firehouse)
4) Toyota dealership (Lee Hwy and Old Dominion)
5) Caldwell Bankers-One Stop (Lee Hwy and Woodstock)
6) 7-11/Progressive Cleaners (Lee Hwy Pollard NW corner)
As a voting member of the committee allowed to pick 3 locations, I (our
President) selected Brown Honda, Cherrydale Station, 7-11 Progressive Cleaners
lot. The reasons are simple, response times to our neighborhood remain the
same, proximate location to the original station, size of lot, grade of lot, and
Cherrydale wants the station. A public comment meeting will be held
on June 18th at 7:30 PM at the Cherrydale Volunteer Station Lee Hwy and N.
Pollard Street. Anyone wishing to express their feelings may speak for 3
minutes. I will not be there due to a prior commitment, however the
meeting is recorded and I will receive a copy of the meeting from the Chairman
of the committee."
Meeting: Wednesday, Feb 5, 7:30pm
...
to discuss the future of Cherrydale Fire Station.
This meeting will include the following:
¨
Presentations by
stakeholder groups on their criteria to select site for the new fire
station/list of potential locations.
*
¨
Review of Fire
Department’s Operational criteria and data.
If
you have any questions, please contact Shawn Kelley,
Arlington County Fire Department, at 703-228-3362 or by email at skelle@co.arlington.va.us.
*If
you are a stakeholder group interested in giving a brief presentation, please
contact Frank Finamore at 703-525-0339 or via email at frank@fininc.org.
Arlington County will almost certainly be re-locating the Cherrydale Fire station (station #3). It appears as though the fire station will probably move around the corner from it's current location on Lee Highway, to a location near the Honda dealership on Quincy. The advantage is that this will locate the fire station a few seconds closer to the Ballston area, and avoid the 5-way interchange. The possible disadvantage is that it will move the fire station a few seconds farther away from our neighborhood. With an aging population in our community, the need for emergency care to arrive quickly is important. If you don't think 60 seconds farther away is such a big deal, try holding your breath for that long (imagine Heart Attack or other critical care need).
The County held a public discussion about this topic on Dec. 13, and plans a follow-up discussion for January 29, 7:30pm (location unknown). During the discussion, the County Manager and Fire Chief both felt strong about the pending decision to move the fire station to Quincy Street. Although there would be a slightly longer response time to the Bellevue Forest area, the County plans to move Fire station # 8 closer to our area in the next four years, thereby resolving that problem.
If the County does select Quincy street as the new location:
1) What is the expected additional time required to reach Bellevue Forest?
2) What is the expected time frame to relocate station # 8 in order to address the lack of coverage in our area?
3) What is the possibility that station # 8 does not get relocated, thereby leaving a gap in coverage in our area?
4) Why wasn't station # 8 moved before station # 3, to address this gap in coverage?
There are still many unanswered questions. The process is moving forward quickly, and a decision is scheduled for Spring 2003. At that time, design for the new fire station will occur, with construction planned for year end.
Additional information can be found in an article by Read Bush who is a Fireman with the Cherrydale Fire Station. (FYI - Read is opposed to the move to Quincy Street)
Arlington County Information Site
UPDATE from 12/19 from your Association President:
I attended an informative meeting about the movement of firestation #3. Chief Plaugher and Assistant Chief Kelley were there to inform the communities about the studies done in recent years relating to firestation relocations. Hopefully I have the info correct. The plans are to move #8 (by Heidelberg) to the mulch pile at 26th and Old Dominion, #3 to Quincy at the rear of Brown Honda (presently a parking lot), #10 in Rosslyn to the Courthouse area, #5 remains in the same location but is having the station rebuilt, #1 remains the same, #9 remains the same, #7 moves toward the west end of Columbia Pike, #4 will be determined after all the other stations have been moved and the fire department can assess the needs to place #4. What the studies have stated is fire responses will remain stagnant in the next twenty years, however EMS responses will double or more during the same time. Therefore the studies recommend the fire department gear itself to EMS response.
To achieve these goals, all of the engines responding to calls will be able to render most immediate medical needs until rescue can arrive. Personnel are being cross trained in these areas. Now the real problem for our area is response time. If #3 moves the approximate response time will increase by seconds. This is not enough
time to worry about. However the problem is all studies are based on static information. In other words all fire stations are located as though all engines and equipment are at the station at all times. Therefore if #3 is running calls in Ballston, then #8 becomes our primary responder. If the station is on 26th Street we will be about 4 minutes away. At the present time we are over 4 minutes in response time. The stated goal of the fire department is to respond to all areas in 3 minutes. With these plans, that goal cannot be achieved in our area. If a station is located on Old Glebe in the area of the Madison Center then we will fall into the 3 minute time frame. But if that happens, most of the calls answered at that station will come from Fairfax and we will be in the same situation.
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