LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Westwood Firefighter Calls Deteriorating Fire Station 1 "a Health Crisis," Urges Residents to Revote YES for Approval of Funding Mechanism

As a resident and taxpayer, I have watched every meeting since 2022 on the FS1 Project.  I invested this time because I can unequivocally say that I support our firefighters and I wanted to know the facts.  The above statements lack context and create confusion.  Here is what I know about the 13 bathrooms.  The bathrooms, in the proposed FS1, were represented by some residents as wasteful. Here is the context on the 13 bathrooms and there is no waste.  In the proposed FS1 Project, there are 5 half baths and 8 full baths with showers. There are 7 firefighters at FS1 and 5 day staff, including the Chief and Assistant Chief, who do respond to emergency calls when needed. It is imperative, after an emergency response, for toxins and biohazards to be removed immediately. Additionally, there could be another emergency call shortly after the FF return to the station.  Not only do the FF need to get cleaned up to get back in service, but more importantly to protect their health. With this configuration, it reduces the risks associated of waiting for a shower. Code requirements dictate the need for certain bathrooms in public buildings. There need to be 2 outside the training room, 2 public restrooms near the entrance and one on every level where a person is working. Level 0 – Mechanics bathroom has a shower (for decontamination purposes) HOT ZONE· Level 1 – Two public restrooms at the front of the station are half baths, the bathroom off the apparatus bay is also a half bath. Residents do stop at the station for medical assistance and may need to use the restroom. Level 2 – Two restrooms near the training room are half baths, the one in administration has a shower (to be used by the Chief and Assistant Chief after an emergency response), the six in the living quarters all have showers for the current staff of 7 firefighters and potential growth.  All of the bathrooms are gender neutral, none are designated as male/female.

Stating that the capacity of FS2 is 7 is incorrect and this has been stated multiple times in public meetings.  7 is the surge capacity for FS2 in the event of an extreme weather event or other public safety emergency.  Putting 2 more firefighters at FS2 is part of the WFD strategic plan, but does not increase firefighter safety.  FS1 has been propped up with lally columns for 10 years and needs to be inspected regularly by a strutural engineer.  There is no decontamination as stated in this article. We are exposing our firefighters to carcinogens and we have the power to change that by approving this project. Westwood has a guaranteed price for th project until 9/15/25 and then that bid expires.  With cost escalations and looming tariffs, the cost to replace FS1 will likely be higher.  I implore residents to seek out the facts and not be misled by rhetoric. 

Putting this out there for Westwood Minute readers...
Staffing/Size of FS2 is not related to the currently unsafe and undersized FS1.  It's been explained multiple times throughout this process so I'm admittedly not following how this is still causing confusion.  
Dore & Whittier has designed a significant number of public safety buildings including fire stations with necessary decontamination zones.  Calling the design "extravagant" is surprising and quite frankly, disappointing, to me.   I'm also not following how a building including a proper decontamination zone and a sufficient number of showers is "extravagant."   The necessary number of bathrooms/offices has been explained and justified countless times.  

Hi Brian,
Appreciate your perspective.  I've heard people raise their concerns about the size of the building.  The design is for 5 bays (we currently have 4 which is not sufficient to have all apparatus in the ready position) so I asked someone on the project what the cost would be to remove one of the bays.  It's $2.5 million.  I'm genuinely curious when you say that "everything can be done and more but in a smaller package"  - how?  I'm not an engineer and was not part of the working group for the project.  I know that it's been value engineered to reduce costs already.  Not sure what else could be cut out.
I would think that we'd have to pay more for design fees but that may involve another town meeting vote like we did back in January 2024.
The contractor has agreed to hold pricing on the project.  My concern as a taxpayer would be that if we go back to the design phase, we pay substantially more for a building that does not meet the current/future needs from day one.
If you haven't visited FS1, I would encourage you to do so to better understand how significantly undersized the existing building is.  
Obviously I'm just a resident and not an elected official or town employee and can't really speak to past decisions regarding prioritization.  I did view the municipal and school building studies as a positive step in addressing future needs/projects.  

Brian, I won't comment on anything else that was contained in your post, but I'd like to focus on your point about the "listening" session hosted by the Select Board. I was appalled- but unfortunately not surprised- to hear (even BEFORE Town Meeting) statements from elected officials and town employees that residents should pass the fire station project because many people have worked hard on it and if you don't vote for the project, it means you don't care about firefighters. I thought the elected officials and town employees would see residents' vote against the project as a wake-up call that changes needed to be made to the proposal. INSTEAD, the post-special-town-election Select Board meeting consisted of talking about how uneducated the voters were. Additionally, they didn't come up with an even SLIGHTLY different proposal...they actually think no changes can be made. I get it: they're proud of their work and most of it makes sense. However, for Westwood residents to be told to shut up and vote for something is dishonest and insulting.