LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Time Is of the Essence in Building FS1

There have been a number of letters to editors, social media posts and the like written about the proposed Fire Station 1 (FS1) project. After spending some time with Chief Lund (thank you, Chief!) and getting a tour of FS1, I felt compelled to add another letter to the mix. A lifelong resident of Westwood, here’s my crack at it.

First, I believe all residents of Westwood, regardless of which “side” they are on, respect and appreciate the WFD and what they do for all of us. I also believe both “sides” recognize the need for a resolution and most recognize the need for a new FS1 rather than a renovated FS1.

The concerns of the opposition are primarily cost and scale.

Cost: The original estimates from January 2024 projected a cost of $43m. As of September, 2024 the proposed cost was $39.5m. In an effort to further reduce costs, additional items were cut and the proposed bid in hand stood at $38.1m. It passed the required 2/3 vote at the 5/19/25 Town Meeting (503 in favor, 164 opposed) but failed the 6/3/25 Special Election by 180 votes, 1236 to 1056. For context, the 2293 votes in the Special Election represented 18% of the 12,434 registered voters in Westwood. The $38.1m bid has been extended by the contractor to 9/15/25. The projected cost of a renovated FS1 is $36m (clearly this option does not make sense). The next Special Election is September 9.

Scale: The current FS1 is 15k square feet; the proposed new FS1 is 36k square feet. Why such an increase? The current FS1 is structurally deficient and woefully limited with space. As a result of the limited space, firefighting gear is stored in the apparatus bay rather than a designated storage area, thus compromising the decontamination of gear and equipment. How important is proper decontamination processes? According to the Last Call Foundation, Boston firefighters are 2½ times more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than other Boston residents and cancer caused 61% of the career firefighter line-of-duty deaths from 2002-2016. The toxins, carcinogens and biohazards that firefighters bring back with them on themselves and their gear need to be removed immediately for the health of personnel and to be ready to answer the next call.

The 5 bays on level 1 are necessary for needed equipment to be in the ready position. With only 4 bays, time would be wasted rearranging equipment, thus adding to response time. The square footage of the second floor is determined by that of level 1. The increase in square footage illustrates how inadequate today’s fire house is.

The other areas of the house (living quarters, office space, bathrooms/showers, etc.) are also incredibly inadequate, unhealthy and unsafe. On top of these significant deficiencies is the deteriorating structural integrity of the FS1 bays. The floor is crumbling and there are temporary steel supports required on the lower level to support the floor where the fire apparatus sits. This set up requires regular inspections by a structural engineer. You may have seen pictures of this online – this is a tragedy waiting to happen!

There is a lot of factual information online on the town website, so much that one could never do it justice in one letter to the editor. I encourage you to read it, look at the pictures and get a sense of what these firefighters have been dealing with for a long time.

You may not like how every single dollar of the $38.1m would be spent. You may be concerned with other future projects in town. I get it. But please know that if this project is voted down, the cost will only go up. And even more importantly, it will delay the timing of the project, leaving our firefighters in harm’s way even longer. Time is of the essence here. These firefighters deserve our sense of urgency to get this done NOW.

According to Chief Lund, the three big killers of firefighters are cancer, heart attacks and suicide. As the Chief said, “the new station addresses all three of these.” That’s good enough for me.

Tom Kilgarriff

Thanks to Tom Kilgarriff, Westwood resident, for sharing these comments with Westwood Minute.

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You may also be interested in reading:

- Comment on FS1

- Special Town Election: Revote on Debt Exclusion for a New Fire Station 1 (UPDATED) (Calendar event)

- 2 Paths Forward for Westwood's Fire Station 1: Select Board Holds Community Input Session on Thursday, June 26th (published June 2025)

- Westwood Residents Vote to Put Brakes on Funding New Fire Station 1 (UPDATED) (published June 2025)

- Westwood Voters Approve Costs of Construction of a New Fire Station, along with FY26 Operating Budget (published May 2025)