Thursday, May 19, 2016

Journey of a 1,000 Miles ...

AFD Central Station is too old and too cramped

The first real honest to goodness step in the right direction for a new South Fire Station was taken today, albeit a baby step.

 First meeting of DPW Fire Station Advisory  Committee in Town Hall today

The new 7-member DPW Fire Station Advisory Committee met for the first time this afternoon after being appointed by Temporary Town Manager Pete Hechenbleikner who initially chaired the meeting but then turned it over to elected Chair Lynn Griesemer, who also chaired the 2006 Fire Station Study Committee.

In his preamble Hechenbleikner told the Committee, "This work is incredible important.  You are the constituency, the advocates for these projects."

DPW Chief Guilford Morring said his new building is a little further along having already hired a designer who helped with a presentation to the Select Board a few months back for an 8.5 acre $37 million new facility.

 Some preliminary fire station work could start even before DPW moves out

The current DPW building has been identified as a location for the new Fire Station.

If the $65 million mega school is approved by two-thirds of Town Meeting in the Fall and a majority of the voters at the November election ballot that would free up Fort River School for the new DPW building.

The DPW Fire Station Advisory Committee will attempt to bring a funding request to the Fall town meeting to hire a designer and Owners Project Manager for the Fire Station to catch it up to the new DPW.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not clear on the idea of having a S. Amherst fire station that is not in S. Amherst. it's basically still in the center of town. Why not put it down on the open land behind Valley Transporter where it is closer to where the people in S. Amherst live?

Larry Kelley said...

That property would be VERY expensive. The town already owns the DPW and Fort River.

Larry Kelley said...

And it's called South Fire Station because it will be south of town center (by about a mile).

Getting out of a crowded center of town can be a problem for AFD. But not if they are at the DPW location.

Anonymous said...

Someone suggested putting the fire station and DPW buildings on the same lot where DPW is now. Seems to make sense, since they both involve large trucks & maintenance, they could share some buildings and it would bring construction costs down. 116 is an easy street to drive out of which is not true of the Fort River site which is mired in traffic during both rush hours. Put it on the opton list?

Dr. Ed said...

7:57 -- I agree and add one other thing: both require at least a 5" water main.

DPW is going to need massive sprinkler capacity because while Diesel isn't as flammable as Gasoline, fires are not unheard of and with all your toys under one roof, you want hefty sprinklers even if code doesn't call for them, which I think it does.

AFD needs a 5" water line to refill trucks -- often they are able to extinguish a fire with just what they have aboard -- it's a lot, I think four digits. (Practice is to hitch a line to a hydrant, but not to "charge it" (turn the hydrant on) unless it's a serious fire -- for a bunch of reasons.)

But when they get back to the station, they need to refill the truck -- without dropping pressure in the neighborhood, and hence the need for the large pipe.

My guess is that the trunk main runs down 116, whereas the FR site probably is a branch line.

Anonymous said...

Is there anything Dr ed doesn't know?

Anonymous said...

Ed, since you don't live anywhere even near here why not come here and find out? What a nutjob.

Anonymous said...

Isn't Ft River a lot bigger than DPW? What does DPW need -- basically a small office and a lot of parking and sheds and storage?

Dr. Ed said...

Speaking of fires, are these folks as incompetent as they appear to be?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfMZxEwUuUI

1: If you have a Quint, why are you using aluminum ladders to vent And remember that Quint stands for "five" -- one of which is a 400-600 gallon tank of water.

2: Why does it take them so long to tap that hydrant? And maybe it isn't able to feed a truck (note rusty water and size of hydrant), but at that distance, a hand line connected directly to the hydrant would deliver a lot more water than they had.

3: First thing I noticed was the flames on the left edge of the roof. Why wouldn't you immediately hit that with at least a hand line from the ground? At least knock that down a bit, maybe blow a big enough hole through the roof for it to (at least initially) serve as a vent.

4: Notwithstanding that, when you vent and get as much smoke as they are, shouldn't you be hosing it down? To cool it down so what happens next doesn't?

Maybe I'm being overly judgemental here, but when you realize that two guys were inside when it exploded, I think they are lucky no one died...

Anonymous said...

"Maybe I'm being overly judgemental here"

Gee, you think?

Anonymous said...

They havent heeded any of the other half dozen fire station committee reports what will be different about this one except for spending money on something they already know

Anonymous said...

So, to build a new Fire station Amherst needs to:
a) Approve the co-located elementary schools
b) build the new co-located Fort River
c) tear down the old Fort River
d) Approve the new DPW facility in front of the fort river play fields
e) Build the new DPW facility
d) Tear down the old DPW facility
e) Approve the new fire station
f) Build the new station

Anonymous said...

Ed, WTF does that video have to do with this?
And your post before shows you know nothing about our local FD. Stop "guessing."

Anonymous said...

Maybe there's some "extra" land near the existing DPW that could be repurposed or taken by the town?

Larry Kelley said...

Would add $250K in land costs.

Larry Kelley said...

Actually $500K if you took my neighbor's house as well.

Anonymous said...

Ed, you could really use to get a job. You spend too much time focusing on everyone else's jobs.

Anonymous said...

Ed has a job....it is commenting on the internet..

Anonymous said...

Larry is in favor of this because he has an unsellable house.

Larry Kelley said...

Actually I was in favor of a new Fire Station long before I bought this house.

Anonymous said...

Ed's constant commenting is less irritating than all those who complain about it. Give it a rest fer chrissake.