Excerpts from peoriapublicradio.org:
A South Peoria fire station shuttered by budgetary cuts will reopen, but at the expense of another station that serves the Uplands, the Moss Avenue area, and Bradley University.
Peoria Fire Department Chief Tony Ardis told the city council that the increased response times created by the Oct. 1 closure of Station 4 on SW Jefferson Street were not acceptable, and that their best plan was to reintroduce Engine 4 at Station 4, paired with the transfer of Truck 4 from Station 8 on Hurlburt Street. The reintroduction would be offset by decommissioning Engine 2 that would result in the closure of Station 8.
The fire department reductions became a major issue of contention as the council worked through budget shortfalls created by the COVID-19 pandemic, as District 1 and 2 council members Denise Moore and Chuck Grayeb tried to keep Station 4 operational.
The territory served by Station 8 will be divided among three other houses: Station 4, Station 3 on West Armstrong Avenue, and the Central House on Monroe Street downtown.
#1 by Michael m on November 13, 2020 - 12:52 PM
Although not ideal, it sucks from a public safety standpoint to have to decommission a machine, and have response times increased.
I went to Bradley and I am familiar with the area. Station 8 is down the hill from campus, station 3 is not to far away either. On one AFA that was in the building I was living in my senior year, truck 4 also responded with engines 1,2,3 Trucks 1 and 3, Rescue 1 and the BC. This was before truck 4 had their Pierce, they had a 1994 Spartan I believe. I think their Pierce is a 2010.
Bradley always had apparatus from stations 1, 3 and 8 on all AFA’s on campus.
Medical calls usually got Engine 3 and AMT.