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New Tenleytown firehouse inadequate, residents say
(Published March 22, 2004)

By MELISSA FERRARA
Staff Writer

Renovations of the Tenleytown firehouse could begin as early as this summer, according to Ward 3 Councilwoman Kathy Patterson, but community leaders fear the new structure may not meet the area’s needs.

Neighborhood concerns about potentially losing ambulance service from the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad adds to the urgency in completing the new firehouse for a community without nearby emergency services in the District since 1999.

"We expect services on an equal basis throughout the city," said Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Anne Renshaw, who represents single-member district 3G-03.

Concerns about fire and rescue services have plagued the Tenleytown area since May 1995, when Rescue 4 was removed from the community because of financial issues, Renshaw said.

Currently, the Tenleytown area relies heavily on ambulance service from the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in suburban Maryland, which could be threatened by legislation pending in Montgomery County.

Two bills, one that would eliminate volunteer squads, like Bethesda-Chevy Chase, and put volunteer services under one administrator and another that would require rescue squads to charge for their services, which are currently free to D.C. residents, could hinder service to the District.

The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad is "adamantly opposed to any charge for service," said Edward Sherburne, Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad chief.

Sherburne said that, especially after 9/11, the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad and the District should maintain and foster their relationship. Significant political pressure against the bills has halted their progress in the county council, but they could still advance in the future, Sherburne added.

The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad is funded by donations and staffed by volunteers. The squad’s fund-raising abilities could be severely diminished if it needs to charge for its services in the District, where residents currently have the option of seeking ambulance service from either the D.C. Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services or Bethesda-Chevy Chase.

The D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board further complicated the issue when it designated the Tenleytown firehouse at 4300 Wisconsin Ave. NW as a historic site on Feb. 7, 2002. The designation is still being debated in the community, because it severely limits changes and updates to the structure.

The Capital Fire Museum applied to the Historic Preservation Office to obtain historic status for the firehouse, known as the permanent home of Engine 20. The designation puts the firehouse under the District’s preservation laws and gives the Historic Preservation Review Board final authority on any alterations to the exterior appearance or demolition of a landmark, said David Maloney of the D.C. Historic Preservation Office.

The designation required changes in plans, which led to a lawsuit between the District and the contractor originally hired to renovate the firehouse, HRGM Corp.

The historic designation required the original three-bay design to decrease to a two-and-a-half bay structure.

Internal fire department documents, signed by Battalion Fire Chief Clarence L. Wooten, and dated Feb. 16, 2000, state that the optimal design to serve the community had "three apparatus bays, drive through where possible for an aerial truck, pumper truck, two ambulances, [and] battalion chief car."

The structure plans, after the historic designation, allow for an engine, ladder truck and an ambulance, which is the same amount of equipment originally located at the Engine 20 house, said fire department spokesman Alan Etter. The current design also allows for the preservation of three sides of the original firehouse’s façade, complying with historic preservation standards, Etter added.

Community leaders worry that the current population in Ward 3, and future expansions to the area, will not be served adequately by the same amount of equipment.

"Part of [Ward 3] was redistricted into Ward 4 because there are so many people," Renshaw said.

The D.C. Office of Planning conducted an Upper Wisconsin Avenue Corridor Study to look at traffic patterns and other residential changes with pending additions to the area. A public safety study was not included in this research and has been requested by Patterson, said Cindy Petkac, a spokeswoman for the Office of Planning.

A revised Wisconsin Avenue plan, expected to be released at the end of April, would look at the availability of fire and medical services in the area, Petkac added.

The half bay of the structure is part of the original structure and can currently fit an ambulance, but the vehicle needs to fold in its mirrors and back into the bay, Etter said. The historic designation would currently prevent any widening of the door.

"Historic preservation should be removed to accommodate new development," Renshaw said. "Rescue Squad 4 should be reconstituted and put back in the area [and we] should have a second ambulance."

Community leaders also fear that a "light service vehicle" might replace their ambulance.

Etter said light service vehicles are bigger than ambulances, carry much of the same equipment, can transport patients to hospitals and can be used as emergency vehicles – for example, responding to stuck elevators and freeing people from cars damaged in accidents.

Renshaw said the light service vehicle is a "schizophrenic apparatus" and its function as an ambulance is questionable, at best.

An internal document from the D.C. fire department, obtained by The Common Denominator, notes several problems with the light service vehicle being used as an ambulance. Among them:

• --the vehicle "[lacks] storage space for medical supplies,"
• --"if the rescue tool is mounted on the vehicle it will not pass the Department of Health inspection, i.e. it does not prevent fumes and exhaust from entering the patients compartment,"
• --"there are many special features that if not operated properly may compromise [the] safety of our members." The memo expressed concern that all staff members would need to attend special training before they could use the vehicle.

Etter said a light service vehicle is currently being used at the Engine 12 firehouse at Fifth Street and Rhode Island Avenue NE.

D.C. Fire Chief Adrian Thompson told Councilwoman Patterson "that redesigning the station now to include a three-bay facility would prevent construction of a basement and significantly decrease total living space for the fire/EMS staff," according to a press release from Patterson’s office.

The release also said Thompson would seek additional funding in the fiscal 2006 budget to purchase land for an additional fire facility in the "upper Wisconsin Avenue corridor closer to the Maryland line." An aide to Patterson said the councilwoman does not know the location of the site being considered.

Community leaders said they tried to encourage the city to purchase land adjacent to the Tenleytown firehouse for the new building.

"We asked the city to purchase the [Tenley] Mini-Mart, which is next door," Renshaw said.

Renshaw and community activists researched the property and the cost and met with Margret Kellums, deputy mayor for public safety and justice.

"The city did nothing and then it was sold," Renshaw said.

City officials have begun looking for a new contractor to build the Tenleytown firehouse and expect a request for bids to go out in April.

Meanwhile, community leaders continue to fight the historic designation and the current plan.

Ward 3 resident and activist Kathy Smith has been surveying her neighborhood on their views about the firehouse.

"The majority [of respondents] want a new, state-of-the-art firehouse," Smith said, adding that the results of the survey will not be available until next week.

Smith said she intends to send them to the mayor, city council and other D.C. officials to try to spark change. Patterson is considering legislation to allow for public safety concerns to be addressed at the start of any historic designation proposal, said a statement from her office.