CUMBERLAND – This town has old fire facilities, is shaped like an upside-down pizza slice, and is seeing tremendous population growth, three factors, say Fire Chief Nicholas Anderson, that will require significant analysis of, and investments in, district stations.
Fire and town officials have been investigating a number of options for new stations, including the former Bank of America building on Mendon Road. That property was seen as a potential spot, he said, but would ultimately have been too small and too cost-prohibitive.
Anderson said fire officials are trying to deliver appropriate services while prioritizing the needs of the community overall, and they are fortunate to have a fire board and town that appreciates those needs. He said his job is to properly address infrastructure needs of the department, which he did first by replacing the aging fleet of vehicles and now must investigate long-term solutions for individual stations.
The newest station in Cumberland was built in the late 1980s, he said, and that’s the Valley Falls station on High Street. It was built for its time, he said, but needs attention. Major renovations are needed at multiple locations, he said, and the district is facing the challenge of not having a lot of station-appropriate land available.
Grants, he said, have been important to the work of funding various infrastructure needs for an independent fire district that’s climbed back from deep financial hardship.
Hypothetically speaking and brainstorming on the future, the idea of a new station near the Cumberland Water Department would probably better serve the safety needs of the area than the existing Station 5 further down Nate Whipple Highway, said Anderson. What they really need is an outside firm to come in and study all needs, facilities, and emergency services to figure out the best path forward. They had such a study in the past with the merger of the various fire districts, he said, and it should be done again to bring concrete facts and analysis for proper planning.
The Cumberland Fire District remains a lean operation, said Anderson.
“I think we do quite a bit with not a lot,” he said of the department.
The chief said they’re interested in working with the Water Department on possible new shared facilities.
Station 2 at the corner of Mendon Road and Route 116 was built in the 1960s as a temporary building, said Anderson, and really needs to be replaced. It was built for the needs of Ashton at that time. There are no adequate quarters, he said, and they’ve had to do mold remediation multiple times.
“The building itself is aging out of its life expectancy,” he said. “It was supposed to be temporary, five to seven years, not 70.”
He said they’re exploring possibilities related to both Station 2 and Station 5.
The Cumberland Fire District has announced the start of a major structural renovation of Fire Headquarters at 3502 Mendon Road after the apparatus floor there was determined to be structurally compromised. This is a great step forward for the department, said Anderson this week, but it will need to be the first of many to ensure that the department fulfills Cumberland’s safety needs into the future.
Funding for the project was secured through American Rescue Plan Act funds, with the support of Mayor Jeff Mutter and the Town Council, with the remainder coming from department funds.
During construction, the district will close public access to headquarters and district services will relocate to CVS property at Highland Corporate Park, which Anderson said the company has allowed them to use for free as renovations are completed to help out the community. The temporary office location is 475 Park East Drive, Woonsocket, RI 02895, and office hours are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Office of Tax Collection phone number is 401-658-1921.
Fire prevention remains at the Cumberland Public Safety Complex, 1379 Diamond Hill Road. Engine 3 and its firefighters will continue operating from headquarters until the temporary quarters are completed at the Cumberland Northern Highway Garage, anticipated during the first week of October. Emergency response coverage will remain fully operational throughout the project, according to fire personnel.
For any emergency, call 911. For non-emergency matters requiring a dispatcher, call 401-333-2600.
Firefighters themselves will work out of a trailer, similar to how one might if a renovation is being done on their home, said the chief.
“We wanted to keep this end of town covered,” he said.
Anderson thanked everyone involved for their flexibility. He said they waited many years to get the floor assessed and properly enforced. With the department’s financial shape and without the ARPA money from the town, he said, they “would have been in a bad way.” He thanked town officials, particularly Mutter for advocating to make sure the department received the money.
“We’re being financially prudent, but tackling some of the infrastructure concerns we have at our stations. This is the first, but won’t be the last.”
Cumberland’s shape as a sort of long triangle, with two main thoroughfares, makes it difficult to achieve appropriate coverage in the middle section of its 28 square miles, said Anderson.
Station 2 and its adjoining EMS building are actually in a great spot, said Anderson, allowing quick access to Diamond Hill Road and northern parts of town via Scott Road. Station 5 in Arnold Mills might seem like its in a good spot for that end of town, he said, but there are areas it takes a long time to get to, such as the Adams Farm neighborhood.
The bottom line, he told The Local Insider, is that the town can’t do less on the northern areas of Cumberland as the town grows more that way.
“We would actually be looking for more staffing and coverage,” he said.
Current staffing is 11, he said, but you really need at least 16 firefighters when pulling up to a scene.
They currently have a new engine on order, he said, but costs of trucks are another serious concern. The first fire engine he moved to purchase in 2022 had a price tag of $590,000, and the next year, using a grant, they paid $750,000 for another one. The one set for delivery next year has a price tag of $1.1 million, he said.
The town also needs a third EMS truck, he added.
