Neighbors ‘devastated’ about possible fire station closure

“Devastated.” That’s how Donna Olson felt when she learned the fire station next door was one of six slated to close under Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett’s 2018 budget plan.

Olson owns Hosed on Brady, a tavern next door to Fire Station 6 at the corner of Franklin Place and Brady St. on the city’s east side.

“People are upset, people are angry,” she said. “I think that we should never say we can’t afford our protection, whether it be police or firefighters.”

The tavern is filled with memorabilia donated from firefighters across the country. A flattened fire hose runs around the edge of the bar.

Whenever the firefighters next door get a call, bartenders turn on a flashing red siren light on the ceiling and hand out “mystery shots.” Patrons lift a glass to the firefighters and say “safe return.”

A sign on the outside of the tavern was recently updated with the message: “Save our firehouse.” It also lists phone numbers for Barrett and Ald. Nik Kovac, who represents the area.

That fire station would be used as a community outreach facility, under Barrett’s plan, but there would be no engines or equipment there.

Deb Langkau, a nearby resident and tavern patron, said she is trying to separate emotion from her argument as to why the firehouse should remain.

“We’ve built more and more developments,” she said. “We have a very densely populated area.”

Along with the new construction, there are historic buildings in tights spaces throughout the neighborhood, including the fire station itself, she added. Many of the residential houses have cottages behind them.

“If there was a fire, it could be a major catastrophe,” said Olson, the tavern owner.

Other patrons in the bar agreed with their safety concerns.

Some said they would support a half-cent local sales tax proposed by Barrett, who has said it could raise about $35 million per year for the police and fire departments. Gov. Scott Walker and state lawmakers would have to sign off on Milwaukee putting such a tax on the ballot.

Others acknowledged mostly federal funds are being used to build the downtown streetcar, but they still questioned the project as a priority for the city.

And nearly everyone around the bar scoffed at statements from city officials that average response times likely would increase by 25 seconds, believing it would be much longer.

“We would be serviced by whomever is available to service us once that truck is gone,” Olson said.

There’s no denying the firefighters at the station “are family,” said Olson, who has lived and worked next door to the station for 30 years.

Years ago when Olson’s daughter was raising money for a church pilgrimage to Italy, the firefighters took the engine through a car wash fundraiser to help her and her friends.

“It’s just those little things that they do,” she said. “We’re a bonded community and they’re part of it.”

An east side neighborhood meeting on the possible fire station closure is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 11 in Lubar Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.