Last week, we lamented a decades-old “smoldering issue” in Tredyffrin that is long beyond time to resolve.
Recapping for those who may not have read that column, when Chesterbrook (Tredyffrin Township’s largest and most-populated sub-division) was originally developed in the mid-1970s, the community’s plan called for a fire station to be built within its 1.6 square miles
Almost a half-century later, the siren call still wails!
And, with “pun in cheek,” but reality in focus: it’s an alarming impasse!
Alarming because the 2010 Census reported a population of 4589 living in 2356 households in Chesterbrook’s 28 villages with a median home value of $323,000. What’s more, those statistics do not take into consideration the scores of businesses and their hundreds of employees in multi-level office buildings throughout the development.
All these people and more than $800 millions of dollars in real property, and still no fire station there! As Robin would shout: “Holy Smokes,
Batman, where’s the fire station!”
That is the “burning question” the Berwyn Fire Company has been asking for decades. Most recently (May of this year) through a survey available on its web site (www.berwynfireco.org/Chesterbrook.)
The survey is seeking area residents’ opinion, input, and support for the fire company (a volunteer organization) to build a permanent fire and EMS sub-station to better serve the needs of residents of Chesterbrook and surrounding areas like Glen Hardie, etc.
To date, survey respondents have favorably opted for a new sub-station by an overwhelming 88%!
This proposed facility would replace a temporarily leased tented space being used since January,2020 by the fire company at 1100 W. Valley Road adjacent to Gateway Shopping Center. It’s a makeshift operation supporting the fire company’s main station in the Village of Berwyn, a few miles, and precious minutes away!
The proposed location is in an area near Anthony Wayne Drive and Valley Forge Road.
For a wide variety of reasons, the tented space and second-floor office made possible through the generosity of the Neumann Family that owns the building, is far from adequate to serve the needs of the community, the firefighters and emergency services personnel.
One engine, one ambulance, a non-OSHA approved tent in terms of clearance from walls, responders are forced to go outside to access their emergency vehicles (irrespective of weather) and lose 60 seconds of valuable time, and the list goes on.
We are talking about serious, life-threatening concerns and what such a new under roof sub-station could and should mean for thousands of people living and working within an aura of the unexpected and unwanted fire and other emergency.
But, wait, there’s more!
In addition to the construction of a new sub-station, the Berwyn Fire Co. also is seeking to update its main station in the Village of Berwyn at Bridge Avenue and Rt. 30!
As the designated first response fire and EMS for Tredyffrin/Eastown, the Berwyn Fire Company has been answering the call since 1894, including 437 fire calls and 1098 EMS responses in the first six months of this year, alone.
In 2020, volunteers and career staff of BFC responded to 60 fire/rescue calls and 211 medical calls in Chesterbrook. This is in addition to hundreds of times a year, BTC emergency vehicles have traversed Chesterbrook Blvd. and Adams Drive responding to other incidents in and around Chesterbrook.
Because we strongly believe in the need for the community to support the BFC construction of a new fire and EMS substation and upgrade the main station is so apparent and important for residents and businesses in Tredyffrin, we will continue to carry the torch for positive action in the next several Banter columns.
Next week, we will provide you historical and current facts and figures, including costs and other financial and fund-raising considerations. about all facets of the fire company, with an emphasis on its rationale for constructing a new sub- station in Chesterbrook.
The following week, we will share thoughts and information about the value of an upgraded main station in the Village of Berwyn and introduce you to some volunteers who serve and why they do.
In the final column in this series, we will highlight the essence of the previous Banters, and, hopefully, make the case to dispel any misconceptions you may harbor about the indiscriminate power of fire (we’ll recall the “mischief night nightmare blaze at Gateway Shopping Center in 1998 and major Chesterbrook and Old Forge Crossing blazes a few years ago) and “it will never happen to me (us) assumptions.” Stay tuned.
Meantime, if you would like to share comments you have about the BFC issues, please feel free to email Banter at the address at the end of this column, and, remember that Jean -Michel Basquiat once said: “Fire will attract more attention than any other cry for help.”
Finally, nobody asked me, but someone once said: “Don’t let your dreams go up in smoke – practice fire safety.”
The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and good news tomorrow.
