ATHOL – The Fire Department Staffing Advisory Committee, which engineered the plan to fund the hiring of four new firefighter/EMTs, may soon be tasked with determining the future of the Fire Department’s facilities, including the station on Exchange Street.

The station was built in 1893, but has been used solely for storage since 2003, when staff cuts led to all personnel being consolidated at the Uptown Fire Station.

At the urging of Finance and Warrant Advisory Committee Chair Ken Duffy, several of those who had served on the staffing committee recently met at the Exchange Street station to assess its condition and consider future options.

Duffy, who served as chair of the staffing committee, feels a plan for the building needs to be developed soon. One option that might be considered, he said, is using the facility as an ambulance substation, where two firefighter/EMTs and one ambulance would be available to respond to calls during daylight hours. Right now, the three bays at the station are occupied by an ambulance, a brush truck and an antique 1920 Seagraves fire truck.

  • The Fire Department Staffing Advisory Committee toured the fire station on Exchange Street on Dec. 9, while discussing possible future uses. GREG VINE / For the Athol Daily News
  • The first floor of the fire station on Exchange Street, which was closed in 2003 and is now used for storage. GREG VINE / For the Athol Daily News
  • The Fire Department Staffing Advisory Committee in the old break room at the fire station on Exchange Street on Dec. 9. GREG VINE / For the Athol Daily News
  • Town Manager Shaun Suhoski and Brian Dodge stand in the dispatch center at the Exchange Street fire station. GREG VINE / For the Athol Daily News
  • An antique 1920 Seagraves fire truck, one of three vehicles being stored at the fire station on Exchange Street. GREG VINE / For the Athol Daily News

“We should figure out,” said Duffy at the Dec. 9 meeting, “is it feasible to have two guys down here in the daytime, and then bring everybody back (uptown) at 6 o’clock….Would it make sense to have an ambulance downtown that two guys can jump in and get out from six in the morning to six at night?”

The problem with having a two-person ambulance, said Fire Chief Jeff Parker, is “what’s going to happen if they’re here and we get a call where they have to head uptown to get on an apparatus up there? If it’s during a busy time of the day, there’s going to be a delay in them getting there.”

The first step, said Duffy, is to bring in an expert who could provide a reliable estimate on how much it would cost to bring the building up to code for occupancy. He added that another issue to be considered is the feasibility of expanding the uptown station.

But first, according to Duffy, the committee needs official approval to look into any options regarding the Fire Department’s facilities.

“If we can get the Selectboard on board,” he said, “we need to redefine this committee to be a staffing/facilities committee so that we can move some recommendations to the Selectboard going forward.”

Whatever recommendations are made, funding will be a challenge, said Duffy. He noted that voters just approved a Proposition 2 ½ override to pay for more Fire Department staffing. In the not-too-distant future, they may be faced with a proposal to either build a new high school or expand and update the existing facility – a project likely to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

When it comes to the issue of Fire Department facilities, said Duffy, “We need to have our facts and figures together when people ask, ‘What about that place downtown?’”