Engine 3 on Broad Street in Meriden has been saved, but there's a catch. A fire truck could still be cut
"We really need the engine. It's a big tool box," Lt. Brendan Noonan said.
The engine assists not only with fires, but also with all the other kinds of rescues the department does on a daily basis.
"And it would've made a huge impact on the city and responses, especially when it came to multiple calls at one time," Meriden Deputy Chief David Bowen said.
"It will be a huge detriment to have a different unit other than the fire engine. We're not in there fighting for our jobs. We're in there fighting for public safety," Noonan said.
Members of the city council said the unit would likely be just for medical calls.
The original plan to close the firehouse would have saved the city nearly $900,000 a year.
In the next week, the council plans to look at how the firehouse is operating.
"I think it satisfies a lot of the issues the area has about medical concerns and they 90 percent medical as it is now," Dan Brunet, minority leader of Meriden's city council, said.
Catherine Roden, who has lived in Meriden her whole life, said says Engine 3 gets to calls faster than anyone else.
"So I'd really be dissatisfied if they left," Roden said. "Massive fire here, the whole second floor burned out about a week ago. ... Another fire down the road. It always seems like they're there first."
The City Council will debate whether to keep one of these trucks at Engine 3 in a meeting scheduled for May 14.
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