Westbrook firefighters do a terrific job. I know the big concern is the overtime budget and that is something that has to be worked out between the city and the firefighters union. Public safety must be our first and foremost concern. We must make sure that we have adequate fire and medical services for every Westbrook resident. I am particularly concerned for Ward 5.

Closing Station 3 is presently a moot issue and must remain so. I will never support closing Station 3. On the contrary, we should be looking at upgrading the equipment there now. I worked out of that station for 20 years and I know how valuable it is to the community. Ward 5 is the largest ward in the city and we have some of the most far-reaching and isolated areas in Westbrook.

Before I retired from the fire department in 2003 as a captain at Station 3, Ken Moody, Jim Fahey and I fought hard to get a rescue unit stationed out there and we even turned over the meeting room that we built onto the station for that purpose. We also raised money to convert that room into quarters for the rescue crew – that is how strongly we felt about the need for that rescue unit. I know of several people, including Rick O’Donal, an employee of Storey’s Greenhouse, and retired Engine 3 firefighter Sam Simonson, who would have died had the rescue unit not been at Station 3.

I was at Station 3 Friday and I am now convinced that we need to upgrade that station. The engine should be replaced with a Quint (engine/ladder combination) and we should also have a tank truck. I was discussing fire protection with the firefighters and they expressed concern for the low water pressure on Presidential Way and a couple of other areas. Engine 3 is our first line of defense and is usually the only fire equipment on scene for 10 minutes or more as all backup equipment comes from the Public Safety Building.

When that equipment is not available, we must rely on mutual aid from Portland, Windham or Falmouth. The closest Portland truck (Engine 9) is often not available, and their closest ladder truck would be out of the Allen Avenue Station. Windham and Falmouth are call companies. Windham’s closest station is on Route 302 in North Windham and Falmouth’s closest truck is at the Winn Road Station. Alerting those crews, their response to their station, manning the trucks and getting to Westbrook is at the least 20 minutes, and that is in good weather. In bad weather, the time is double or longer. While I was at Station 3, the rescue unit there was dispatched to Hamlet Coach Park, thus leaving us dependant on mutual aid, which would certainly be time consuming.

A fire science instructor at Southern Maine Community College told me that fire will quadruple in size every minute until fire suppression efforts start. This is why I feel the need for a tank truck to supply Engine 3 until backup equipment arrives. Since areas like Presidential Way have inadequate water pressure, and sending Engine 3 alone on a working fire is like taking a squirt gun to a bonfire.

I was also thinking about the flood of 1996, when the north side of Westbrook from the river out was isolated because the Bridge Street and Cumberland Street bridges were closed down as state engineers felt that these bridges were unstable and in danger of being swept away. River Road at Rousseau Road washed out, Route 302 at East Bridge Street was under several feet of water, Brook Road washed out near Wormell’s Farm and Route 302 in Windham had several places under water. The north end of Westbrook from Bridge Street, Brown Street and Cumberland Street to the Windham, Falmouth and Portland line was isolated. Our only public safety equipment in that vast area, including parts of Wards 1 and 4, was Engine 3 and two police cruisers.

Route 302 runs through Ward 5 and many of the commercial vehicles traveling on that highway are transporting hazardous materials, oil, gasoline, propane and other materials that are dangerous. These vehicles could be go off the road or be involved in an accident at any time, especially in bad weather.

These are some of the reasons why I feel the need for this station and the need to upgrade it.

Mike Sanphy is a Westbrook city councilor representing Ward 5.