MILWAUKEE -- The City of Milwaukee is set to close six fire stations in January, because of budget constraints, but a group of neighbors on Milwaukee's east side refuse to let their station close without a fight.
"It's not over 'til it's over," Sarah Randles said.
Randles spent Sunday walking Brady Street fighting to keep Engine 6, a fire station on Milwaukee's east side, from closing amid city budget cuts expected in the new year.
"We want the city of Milwaukee and the mayor to realize what an important station this is to us and that we really need it," Randles said.
Seventy-five Milwaukee firefighter jobs and six fire stations are on the chopping block under the mayor's 2018 budget proposal. Engine 6 is expected to be taken out of service and used as MFD's community relations amd education office instead.
"I'm devastated," Donna Olson said.
Donna olson owns Hosed on Brady and lives above the bar. She and Sarah Randles along with a few others are petitioning to keep the fire station an active one with firefighters responding to calls because in Olson's opinion, the neighborhood can't afford to do without it.
"Nobody wants to see this firehouse go," Olson said.
"Nobody wants a firehouse to leave a neighborhood, but especially in this neighborhood where we continue to build and saturate the area with people," she continued.
Olson and Randles both plan to attend a common council meeting slated for Monday, October 9th at 6:30pm. It's there they plan to address the full council and they mayor. Another meeting regarding Engine 6 is slated for Wednesday, October 11th at 6:00pm in room N140 of Lubar Hall on the UWM campus. Representatives from the budget office, the fire department, and the police department are expected to attend.
