Christina Jedra

The News Journal

A fire engine in southwest Wilmington that had been idled during staffing shortages has been put back in service.

Engine 6, a fire suppression vehicle at Third and Union streets, will respond to calls while the city completes "an assessment of departmental fire operations," John Rago, Mayor Mike Purzycki's deputy chief of staff for policy and communications. The funding is coming from "internal fire department budget lines."

The city wouldn't immediately provide more information.

Kevin Turner, president of the firefighter's union, said that firefighters are "extremely happy" to have the engine back because the closer an engine is to a blaze, the faster firefighters can respond.

"A minute or two doesn't seem like a whole lot of time in an average person's day, but when you're hanging out a window awaiting rescue, that minute can be the minute between whether you live or die," he said.

Last month, the state earmarked $200,000 for Wilmington public safety. The money had been intended for the Wilmington Police Department overtime but Sen. Robert Marshall said the department didn't accept the money in time. Marshall considered redirecting the money to the Wilmington Fire Department before deciding to allocate it more generally to "public safety" at the mayor's discretion.

The move, supported by state Rep. Helene Keeley, modifies the Fiscal Year 2017 Capital Improvement Bill.

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Marshall said it's possible the city is using money on hand to keep the engine open until officials formally accept the state grant.

"The mayor indicated his office is preparing the grant request for the state," said Marshall, who met with the mayor last week.

Marshall said he hopes the financial support can help prevent fire fatalities like the deaths of three firefighters who responded to a Sept. 24 blaze. A fire truck had been taken out of service the day of that fatal fire as part of conditional company closures, a rotating shut-down of trucks to save on overtime costs. After the fire, the department under former Chief Anthony Goode briefly returned to rotating closures before deciding to close only Engine 6 during staffing shortages.

"We moved (the grant legislation) forward aggressively because of the tragedy in Canby Park and the importance of having southwest Wilmington and all the neighborhoods covered by the fire suppression unit," Marshall said.

The allocation of state funds came after City Councilman Bob Williams sponsored a resolution in December formally requesting $300,000 from the state to cover fire overtime costs. The District 7 councilman said he is "thankful" for the state support.

"Knowing (Engine 6) is open has given a lot of people comfort," he said.

Turner said he is "cautiously optimistic" about Engine 6's return to service.

"We hope with the upcoming budget hearings that they’ll continue that."

Contact Christina Jedra at (302) 324-2837, on Twitter @ChristinaJedra or cjedra@delawareonline.com.