In wake of deadly blaze, CB3 mulls resolution to oppose fire station closures

alternate textFrom left: Adam Lynch, a firefighter with the FDNY’s Ladder 11, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the Chinatown fire

Just days after a seven-alarm fire ravaged a cluster of Chinatown Buildings On Grand Street near Eldridge Street, killing one person, injuring dozens and rendering hundreds homeless, the transportation and public safety committee of Manhattan’s Community Board 3 met last night to discuss, among other things, a resolution denouncing the possible closure of fire stations in its neighborhood.

The potential closures would come as part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed 4 percent budget cut for fiscal year 2011.

Adam Lynch, a firefighter with the Fire Department of New York’s Ladder 11 at 222 East 2nd Street, said that response time has been a key determining factor in many stations’ fate in the past, which he feels is unfair.

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“All a response time tells you is one company has arrived,” Lynch told the board members. “But two engines are required to start putting out fires,” something, he added, that isn’t taken into account when evaluating stations’ viability.

Five stations are currently located within CB3.

Community members expressed concern over this past Sunday’s deadly Chinatown fire, which occurred within Community Board 3. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

CB3 agreed to shelve a decision on whether or not to draft a resolution opposing the potential firehouse closures until May, in anticipation of the 2011 fiscal year budget cuts, to take effect July 1.