FIRE SUBSTATION NEWS: Funding Request For Study Pulled From Town Meeting; Will Be Conducted Internally

WILMINGTON, MA — Wilmington will soon be presented with a recommendation as to whether a fire substation in North Wilmington is warranted.  Instead of paying $45,000 for an outside firm to conduct a study, however, the town has decided to conduct the analysis using Fire Department personnel.

“After discussions with Fire Chief Joe McMahon, I have decided to withdraw Article 12 which proposed funding in the amount of $45,000 to re-evaluate the fire response time data that is maintained by the Fire Department,” announced Town Manager Jeff Hull in a memo to Selectmen. “The call data that was provided to the [Facility Master Plan consultants] contained extraneous data that is believed to have skewed the results of their evaluation.”

The Facility Master Plan consultants — the Cecil/Harriman Group — reviewed the flawed data and found it did not demonstrate a need for a substation in North Wilmington.

“The Fire Chief has advised me that he has personnel who are very familiar with the AmbuPro and IMC computer systems and can format the data in a way that would only show information relevant for the assessment of response times,” continued Hull. “This work will be done over the next several weeks.”

While Hull hopes to get this analysis done quickly, he wants to ensure it gets done right.

“There has been considerable discussion over many years about the potential need for a fire substation in another part of town,” said Hull. “Obtaining credible data that establishes whether appreciable differences exist in response times to specific areas of Wilmington is an essential step in determining whether additional resources should be dedicated in pursuit of a fire substation.”