Malden Firefighters need your help!
Mayor Richard Howard and the members of the
Malden City Council have voted to cut
$750,000 from the FY2011 Fire Department budget!
What does this mean to you as a Malden resident?
• Twelve firefighting positions will be eliminated from the department, and ten firefighters were laid off.
• Malden will forfeit a Federal S.A.F.E.R. (Staffing for Adequate Fire& Emergency Response) Grant. This$768,956.00 grant would have enabled the Malden Fire Department to retain 4 firefighters and hire 2 additional firefighters for two years.
• As of August 8th, 2010, Engine 4, located at the new fire station at Rowe’s Quarry near the Linden area of the city, will be permanently deactivated; which means the station will close.
• This comes one year after Rescue 1, located at the central fire station, was permanently deactivated.
• The minimum “on-duty shift personnel” will be reduced by approximately 20%.
• Response times will increase, particularly in the Forestdale, Maplewood, and Linden sections of the city.
What has happened to the Malden Fire Department?
• Since 1981 three fire stations have been closed, 58 firefighting positions have been eliminated (a 35% overall reduction in force), 2 engine companies, 1 ladder company and Rescue 1 will have been deactivated permanently.
• Since 1981, your calls to 911 for emergency assistance have increased 400%. Staggering but true!!!
• Since January 1, 2010, the Malden Fire Department has battled 8 multiple alarm fires. At three of these fires the lives of three trapped Malden residents were in jeopardy, and they were all successfully rescued by your firefighters.
What is the plan for the Malden Fire Department?
• In recent years the mayor has sold the Maplewood Fire Station to the Charter School.
• We now pay $3,000 per month in rent to the Charter School to occupy a building we owned for 80 years.
• Despite the mayor’s promises, there has been no sincere effort to select a site, develop a plan, or begin to build a replacement facility for the East Side of Malden.
• At the direction of the mayor the fire department has occupied a fire house at the site of the former Rowe’s Quarry, a fire house that is actually located in Revere.
• The Central Fire Station on Salem Street, built in 1918, continues to fall further into a state of disrepair and is approaching a state that is unsafe and unhealthy for those who work there, as well those who visit it.
• The mayor continues to tell us “Next year will be worse!”
These are just some of the major issues that face the Malden Fire Department. If they concern you as much as they concern us, and they should, we urge you to contact Mayor Howard and your city councilor immediately!!!
Mayor Richard C. Howard
(781) 397-7000
Ward 1 Ward 2
Gary J. Christenson.... (781) 324-4820 Paul A. Condon ......... (781) 322-9216
Ward 3 Ward 4
Paul J. DiPietro........... (781) 322-5140 James M. Nestor........ (781) 324-2672
Ward 5 Ward 6
Barbara M. Murphy ... (781) 389-2512 Neil C. Kinnon .......... (781) 321-1857
Ward 7 Ward 8
Neal Anderson .......... (781) 321-3167 Judith Bucci ............... (781) 321-8125
Councilors-at-Large
Gregory Lucey........... (781) 605-3290 Deborah Fallon.......... (781) 321-8688
Craig Spadafora ....... (781) 321-2992
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