The funds were added to the five-year capital improvement plan in an unanimous council vote.
"I'm elated," Fire Chief Brian P. Rooney said afterward.
An engineering study will be conducted on physical problems at the 40-year-old firehouse near the P.T. Barnum Apartments public housing project. There is a possibility the study may conclude a new firehouse should be built, which would cost more than the allocated $2 million.
The facility was closed for renovations due to sewer and drainage problems that caused the floor to collapse about a week before that Dec. 7 fire, which killed a mother, father and young child in a Fairfield Avenue residence that also included a ground-floor business.
Before the vote, City Council member Robert S. Walsh demanded to know why the firehouse was temporarily closed without a public review process, citing a 2006 ordinance he had co-sponsored that he said required such a step.
"I am insulted by the city's failure to abide by this ordinance," Walsh said.
The ordinance requires a legal written notification be made 45 days before the closing of any firehouse, fire company or police precinct, and then a public hearing must take place in the affected area.
The ordinance was passed after an engine company was closed at another firehouse to save money during former Mayor John M. Fabrizi's administration. That closure angered residents in the surrounding area.
Emergency vs. economic
City Attorney Mark T. Anastasi said the ordinance was intended to cover "a discretionary closure based on financial reasons," not an emergency closing based on safety or sanitary factors.
For instance, Anastasi said, if a firehouse roof should collapse, the facility would have to close immediately and the ordinance could not be followed.
A mayor or his representative must offer a written explanation "outlining the economic reasons for such actions," according to the ordinance. "This situation is entirely different," Anastasi said.
Rooney interpreted the ordinance in a similar fashion.
"I think it's a great rule, but when you have an emergency situation it may not be possible," Rooney said. "I was under the impression that the rule applied when you closed a firehouse, which was not what we did. We relocated personnel and equipment temporarily."
Walsh said he would not blame the temporary shutdown for the three deaths, but he did note the proximity of the Ocean Terrace firehouse to the site of the fatal house fire.
"When you stand in back of the firehouse, you can almost touch the building that went up in flames," said Walsh, adding only one structure sits between them. The closure obviously led to a slower response time, he said.
Fire officials have said firefighters from the Wood Avenue facility reached the fire scene in seven minutes, compared to the average response time of four minutes in the city.
The early morning fire killed Arturo Iselo, 29; his wife, Ana Hernandez, 31, and their son, Omar Iselo, 1. Two other sons, 12 and 15, and an adult male were able to escape the blaze.
Temporary facility to open
Initial repair work now is taking place at the Ocean Terrace firehouse and should be completed in late March or early April.
Meanwhile, a temporary station should be set up in a trailer in the firehouse parking lot by the end of this week. A 60-foot trailer has been delivered to the site but it needs to have showers installed, and it has to be hooked up to water, sewer and power lines and the police response system before it can be used.
The trailer will be able to house four firefighters per shift, compared to the eight to 10 normally at the station. At least one fire truck will be kept inside the station once the trailer is operational.
The firehouse originally was closed when problems were found with sanitary and drainage pipes. Personnel and equipment then were transferred to the next nearest fire station, on Wood Avenue.
"We thought it would be a quick repair - a day or two or, at the most, a week," Rooney said.
Work is taking place to repair the sewer and drainage problems but more problems have since been discovered.
The ground around the Ocean Terrace firehouse appears to be settling, and the main floor has dropped by up to one-and-a-half feet, according to city officials. This is what caused the sewer and roof drainage pipes to disconnect.
"It appears the problem has been growing and didn't occur overnight," Walsh said.
The area is believed to be swampland that was filled in during the late 1800s to encourage industrial development.
The city has eight fire stations, and at least two require major work such as new roofs, Rooney said. He said funds have been requested for these repair projects through the capital improvement plan, but money isn't made available until specific bonding requests are passed.
Cost of repairs questioned
Walsh questioned the escalating cost of repairs, claiming they have gone from $30,000 for sewer improvements to $500,000 for more extensive work. A new roof also may be needed for $750,000, he said.
"I don't know if it just wouldn't be better to tear the building down," said Walsh, calling it "structurally unsound" and asking how long any renovations would last.
Walsh, whose father was a city firefighter, wants the engineering study expanded to look at more possible problems. He said the previous administration may have been more eager to buy new fire trucks than rebuild an aging firehouse for public relations reasons.
In late 2007, when Fabrizi was still mayor, a new $2.5 million firehouse did open on Boston Avenue, the first such facility to be built in Bridgeport in about 25 years.
Mayor Bill Finch praised Walsh for highlighting the problem with the fire station's condition. "I applaud your accurate description to the deferred maintenance in this city," Finch said.
Council member Susan Brannelly, who represents the neighborhood, said it was important to remember the firehouse was closed because "it was uninhabitable." She said a public hearing will take place if required.
Walsh said he will conduct his own public hearing in the neighborhood if none takes place in the near future.
A firehouse near the present location is needed immediately, Walsh said, because ongoing road construction on Fairfield Avenue and regular flooding under the Fairfield Avenue railroad viaduct could cause fire response delays from the Wood Avenue station.
Rooney said the response time from Wood Avenue is adequate. Anytime a fire call comes in, he said, the response time can be slowed because firefighters are responding to another call or are busy with training, "So we run that risk every day," he said.
At the meeting, state Rep. Robert T. Keeley Jr. offered to work with city officials to seek state funds to build a new fire station in the West End or Black Rock. He said city officials must set better capital project priorities and should include legislators in this process.
"Let us in at the planning [stage] so we can work as a team," Keeley said. "We need a comprehensive infrastructure plan that's sellable [in Hartford]."
Keeley is co-chairman of the state legislature's powerful Finance, Revenue and Bonding Subcommittee. The Ocean Terrace firehouse is in Keeley's district.
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