If you check out the official map of the city, you will see nestled at the corner of Northview and Merrill Hills Roads, a piece of land not of the city. It is surounded by the 14th district. In that piece of land is Pewaukee Fire Station #2. Over east of here on Northview is our fire station on Northview and Grandview.
Down the road from the Pewaukee fire station on Merrill Hills and Summit, the city wants to build a new fire station. It would be one mile away and the firemen could walk out in the road and wave at each other. Well, not quite, but if the land were flat, it would be possible. One mile is not much of a distance provided there are no railroad tracks to delay things and there are not. However, our fire chief has set a goal of a seven minute response time to a call for help. That is a noble desire. Instantaneous response would be great, but something reasonable has to be selected. I don't know if seven minutes is reasonable. I think the people footing the bill have to decided.
If you are thinking what I hope you are thinking, you will have looked at the map and wondered what happens when a dwelling in the 14th or 5th district has a fire? Do our firemen wave while passing the Pewaukee station? Do we take back roads so as to avoid such an awkward situation? That would certainly add to the response time. I did a little checking on the drive time at legal speed limits from the proposed location of the new fire station to others.
-
St. Paul station to proposed site: 6:26 minutes
-
Northview station to proposed site: 4:46 minutes
-
Pewaukee Station #2 to proposed site: 1:08 minutes
Add some time to get suited up and fire up the trucks and I would suspect another two minutes could be added. I'm asking questions and not making any conclusions. I'm trying to be a little like the news network that reports the news and you make your own conclusions.
I think about the extremes. When I was on the farm, fire response was something between non-existant to minimizing damage to near by buildings. Many towns have volunteer fire departments. Sometimes while driving in the country you will be overtaken by a car or pick-up truck sporting a red light in the windshield or stuck on top of the roof. That would be a volunteer racing to the department to gear up and hopefully not be left behind when the truck rolls out.
I don't want anyone to get the impression that I'm against a new fire station. I just don't know that it has been well justified. If one is built, I hope they patronize where I work as the new Slinger fire station in the center of town has. It isn't complete, but I've worked there making sure the workers and the volunteers are warm and cozy this winter. So if a new station is built, it could be money in my pocket. Unfortunately the tax collector is waiting to remove it!
