SELKIRK — The Selkirk Fire District wants locals to attend its last two public workshops on Thursday, July 11 and Saturday, July 13 to brainstorm ideas for improving the district’s fire stations.
The July 11 workshop will occur at 7 p.m. at Station 1 on 126 Maple Ave. in Selkirk and the July 13 workshop will happen at 9 a.m. at Station 2 on 301 Glenmont Road in Glenmont. The first workshop had already taken place on Monday, July 8 at Station 3 on 480 Bridge St. in South Bethlehem.
These workshops serve as a way for the district to collect residents’ input as the fire stations have outgrown their physical architectural capacities and are posing safety hazards. The three stations were originally built in 1928, 1952 and 1956 but their now-outdated structures have clashed with the ever-evolving firefighter apparatus and vehicle fleet standards since then.
Residents had rejected the district’s proposed $17.8 million project in December 2018 in a 557-336 vote; the district had hoped this would pass in order to improve the fire stations and firefighter safety.
Regarding the two upcoming public workshops, Commissioner Charles Wickham said in a statement, “We are encouraging our residents to attend these sessions to help us develop some ideas for how to address the needs of our volunteer firefighters and best protect the lives and property of our residents. We have heard our residents say that they want input and we definitely want to encourage them to get educated and make their voices heard.”
For more information, visit the district’s website at www.selkirkfd.org, its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/selkirkfd or send an email at [email protected]
