Maine taxpayers group calls it $2 million waterfront housing for firefighters. Portland FD needs to move fire boat crew out of parking garage.
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The image above are the plans for the new quarters for the Portland (Maine) Fire Department’s fire boat crew. The picture below shows the current housing used by the three firefighters assigned to the boat. When not on the boat they live inside a parking garage.
WGME-TV has a story about a taxpayers group that doesn’t like the almost $2 million dollar price tag to provide a new facility for the fire boat.
Here are excerpts from the article. (Make sure you watch the video and pay close attention to the bunk know as the “penalty box”):
Steven Scharf is the President of the Portland Taxpayer Association.
He says the city’s plan to build a 1.8 million dollar firehouse right beside the ferry terminal is outrageous.
But Fire Chief Fred LaMontagne gave us a tour of the current living quarters. He says, new quarters are necessary.
Crew members live inside this parking garage … dealing with a leaky roof, car fumes, no windows and flooding.
And Chief says, you can’t relocate these fire fighters because it could add up to 4 minutes of response time.
