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Karen_FL_NC wrote:
My advice would be to approach this challenge from several fronts:
Where: Have these letters go to the Editor of the ACJ, to the City Commissioners, the City Manager and the radio and TV stations and any other local media. If you are going to have your 'Spaghetti dinner' and "Adopt A Fire Station" have the local TV station come out to tape the events. You want to have the footage air on the Noon news - when they tend to run human interest stories, on a Friday. Often they do not shoot other stories over the weekend, and your segment can get additional airtime the next morning and over the weekend news hours.
Some letters and interviews should sound 'official' They should spout response time statistics, Historic Designation ordinances, etc. and come from 'credentialed' people with Titles that represent groups of people. For example Carl "President of WEND Association", 'Head of the Historical Preservation Council of Atlanta', 'NPUT Chief Planner' (whatever the real names/Titles are of course). The principal of Brown Elementary school, (and the Head of the PTA) I am sure this school has a very large student population and needs "rapid response times in case of emergencies to save the lives of our children."
Some letters should be more personal, emotional, and heart tugging:
The pictures of the fire trucks drawn by the children and stories about their visit to the station. How the fire fighters taught them how to get out of a burning house, how to call 911, etc. Have the library get involved, saying how great Station 7 personnel were at the recent Library Fair.
Letters from any residents who have been helped by the Fire or Rescue services: i.e. "My grandmother is alive today because Rescue 7 arrived within 4 minutes when she was having a heart attack..." or "When my car was on fire in the driveway, my house would have been lost too, if the fire engine had not arrive so quickly..."
Have 'Handy' the Historic Designation gentleman present at the WEND meeting, go through Historic Preservation channels. He should emphasize that these Historic homes, are a vital part of the history of Atlanta, and are "irreplaceable" if they are lost in a fire.
Closing down Station #7 would result in much longer response times from the next closest station and the second incoming station. The quick arrival of both first and second responding units is essential to provide the water and manpower necessary to mount an aggressive interior attack and contain the fire to the room of origin or the house of origin. These homes are very close together. A delay in response times could tragically allow a fire in one home to spread to the exposures (houses) on either side, if there is a delay in response times.
These older homes are not built up to today's fire code standards and are especially vulnerable. No sprinkler systems present, such as are found in new homes, no fire stops in the walls, large attic spaces, etc. The high ceilings makes placement and effectiveness of smoke detectors more challenging putting lives at risk.
Then there is the issue of the Station itself being Historic, coming up on it's 100th anniversary date, "one of the oldest in the City". (The oldest???). How amazing that it is still standing and still a working fire station!
The gentleman from NPUT who lives in Skylofts should do the same - focus on how far away the next two closest fire stations are if #7 is closed down. Emphasize how traffic patterns would create even longer delays at certain times of day if a station were not in the WEND neighborhood.
Every letter, every interview should point to the same conclusion:
The critical life safety decision of where fire stations are located should be based on response times and service delivery criteria, NOT deferred maintenance problems!
Residents should choose a point of view that resonates with them, so their passion will come through in the letters they write. If it is saving your home, or protecting your children, or Rescues saving the lives of your loved ones. Residents can each write multiple letters targeted to the media to gain support, to politicians and the City Manager who make the decisions, to the Fire Chief, etc. Again, personal letters with emotional 'trigger' words are very powerful, in addition to the 'professional' letters spouting statistics and representing large (voting!) blocks of people.
You could also play the card that WEND is a less affluent, disadvantaged community and that is why they are shutting down your station, not one in an affluent neighborhood.
Emphasize that residents are working diligently to improve and revitalize this area that has been blighted by the mortgage fraud scandal. All of your efforts and momentum will be wasted if it looks like the City is abandoning the neighborhood. It will adversely impact your ability to bring businesses to the area, improve the property values (and increase the tax base...).
I know I jumped all over the place, but I hope this will give everyone some ideas of how to start this grassroots effort for this vital cause. Please e-mail me with any questions!
Karen
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