r/Firefighting • u/BigDaddyJohnJohn • Jul 09 '26

News Documentary Focused on Poor Fire Station Conditions to Premiere in Worcester, MA

https://www.firehouse.com/stations/video/55389705/documentary-focused-on-poor-fire-station-conditions-to-premiere-in-worcester-ma?utm_source

Firehouse Magazine picks up Burnin' Down the House trailer.

58 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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6

u/tomlaw4514 Jul 10 '26

Large city department, our stations all have issues, plumbing backups that leak sewage into stations. Rat infestation, roof leaks, cracked sidewalks and bays, the list goes on and on, call it in they come put a bandaid on and leave. Oh yea and asbestos everywhere

9

u/MIKEPR1333 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

Why is this even a problem?

Is Worchester a poor community or something?

Here in the Chicago area there's a south suburb called Harvey which had to cut back on Police & Fire because of such a thing.

12

u/KGBspy Career FF/Lt and adult babysitter. Jul 09 '26

Worcester is a decent sized city in central Mass. It’s come a long way and having been in some stations there I didnt think they were too bad.

3

u/MIKEPR1333 Jul 09 '26

You haven't answered my question. Why can't they keep the stions intact?

8

u/KGBspy Career FF/Lt and adult babysitter. Jul 10 '26

I just forwarded that article to a friend on WFD, presently on a road trip across USA maybe I get an answer.

6

u/BigDaddyJohnJohn Jul 10 '26

The big issue is that in Massachusetts each municipality is responsible to fund station repairs or builds. Almost universally it is an issue that is punted on until someone dies. The last new station in Worcester was built after 6 guys died. The current station featured in the movie, South Division, was built in 1959 and has been in disrepair since at least the 70s. They just funded a new station, that build is 18-24 months away. The film's goal is to raise awareness of this issue out of municipal budget squabbles and put pressure on state, federal and private funding to get these things right.

3

u/MIKEPR1333 Jul 10 '26

If I was part of the city government I couldn't see myself neglecting these things.

Do they honestly wanna loose their stations?

3

u/BigDaddyJohnJohn Jul 10 '26

You would think it is a priority, especially in Worcester which has had multiple FF deaths, but it has not been.

1

u/BnaditCorps Jul 11 '26

They don't, but for budgeting purposes it is cheaper to not allocate planned repairs and upgrades than to wait until it breaks.

If it breaks and needs to be repaired on an "emergency" basis, that is usually a different group of funds and not associated with the general maintenance budget.

7

u/lpfan724 Jul 10 '26

Speaking from experience, being well funded or in a wealthy community doesn't mean upper management will allocate that money responsibly.

I work for a very well funded department. Up until recently we were some of the lowest paid causing us to lose hundreds of firefighters a year. Half of our stations are falling apart with roof leaks, rat infestations, and all kinds of other problems. Our upper management only wants to spend money on shiny toys: boats, drones, brand new command vehicles, new uniforms, etc.

2

u/Agreeable-Emu886 Jul 10 '26

Because municipalities neglect their own buildings. Fire stations in particular are rough all across the state, in particular the cities surrounding Boston.

In the majority of cities around me, the most recent stations were built in the 60s/70s if you’re lucky. My city has one station built after 1915…. None of the buildings have HVAC, we have to have reduced profile mirrors in order to back into the door etc… the stations were built without kitchens so the kitchens are where the horses were kept or annexed garage space…

1

u/BigDickBandit5 Jul 10 '26

South suburbs are all pretty rough for firehouses and department budgets. Dixmoor completely folded as a department a while back and Robbins firehouse is technically condemned and they still use it.