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22 | Public Safety
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Buckhead leads push to adopt fire stations
SPECIAL
From left, Atlanta Fire Rescue Battalion 6 Chief Michelle Middlebrooks tries out
one of the recliners contributed to four local stations by Havertys at Station 21 on
Roswell Road while joined by Buckhead Coalition President Sam Massell, Rawson
Haverty Jr. of Havertys, and Elizabeth Gill of the Rotary Club of Buckhead.
Continued from page 1
which were completed in December, and
Fire Station 27 on Northside Drive, where
renovations are likely to begin by spring.
“I’m focused... on public safety and
making sure we take care of the people
who take care of us,” said Matzigkeit.
But some of that is more like Band-
Aids at the moment. Matzkigkeit said the
quarter-million-dollar interior renova
tion of Station 26 only made it “slightly
better than my fraternity house.” He has
called for the station to be replaced - as a
Fire Rescue Department capital improve
ment plan also did more than six years
ago, at an estimated cost of around $4
million.
Station 27 was on that department re
placement list, too. More than 11 years
ago, Buckhead residents disturbed by the
condition of the 1950s-era station raised
$250,000 to upgrade its living quarters.
The $300,000 renovation coming this
year is targeted mostly at exterior basics
like accessibility for people with disabili
ties and water-sealing.
Of the stations in the Buckhead bat
talion, only Station 3 at Phipps Plaza is
BUCKHEAD BATTALION
FIRE STATIONS
STATION 3
800 Longleaf Drive, Phipps Plaza
STATION 21
3201 Roswell Road
STATION 26
2970 Howell Mill Road
STATION 27
4260 Northside Drive
STATION 29
2167 Monroe Drive
brand new, rebuilt in 2018 as part of a
mall renovation. Besides fixing up older
facilities, Matzigkeit also has called for
the revival of an old department plan for
a new fire station at Peachtree Road and
Peachtree Battle Avenue.
City funds provide the buildings, the
firefighter salaries, and the gear - includ
ing a new engine and ladder at Station 26
and a new engine at Station 27, both add
ed last year. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
instituted a firefighter pay raise that took
effect Jan. 31 amid concerns about re
cruitment and retention.
But firefighters still have to pay for
their meals and virtually all station ame
nities out of those salaries or assistance
from the Fire Rescue Foundation.
“They have to pay for their own Wi
Fi,” said Gill. “If they want any meal, they
have to pay for it... It is just a bad situa
tion.”
She found that most of the firefight
ers’ needs are “really not sexy,” like in
dustrial washing machines to get danger
ous chemicals out of their clothes. Some
are basics, like pots and silverware. “Just
things we all have 14 extra of and they
have none of,” she said.
In 2019, with Gill’s activism, the Rota
ry Club pledged to give $75,000 over the
next three years to the Fire Rescue Foun
dation for Buckhead station amenities.
It’s part of the foundation’s “Adopt A Fire
Station” program, which currently has
drawn support for eight of the depart
ment’s 36 stations.
Shirley Anne Smith, head of the foun
dation, said the program “offers the com
munity an opportunity to make an im
pact not only in the city and in their
respective neighborhoods, but it also
creates a culture of appreciation for our
city’s first responders.”
Buckhead Coalition President Sam
Massell joined in late last year, working
with Rawson Haverty Jr. of the Havertys
furniture company to donate recliners
to each of the four stations within Buck-
head proper.
The stations have other needs and de
sires for comfort items, too. Gill put to
gether a wish list from the five stations,
which she recently circulated to the
Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods. It
contains some big-ticket items, like a 60-
inch TV and a refrigerator. But there are
a lot of household basics, like bowls, win
dow blinds, and coffee and cups to drink
it from.
Gill said some minor items can simply
be brought to a local station. The foun
dation urges people to give through its
donation system, to make sure stations
need the items and because major dona
tions need to be approved by City Coun
cil resolution under the law, among other
reasons. The foundation has a donation
page at atltfrf.org/adoptafirestation.
STATION WISH LISTS
The following are local fire station wish-list items compiled by Elizabeth Gill.
Station 3: Wi-Fi equipment and installation; set of steel dumbbells; butcher block
knife set; silverware for 12; 12 coffee cups; dinnerware and bowls for 12
Station 21: two recliners; one desk chair; four-drawer locking file cabinet; Green Egg
charcoal; extra-larger Crock-Pot; coffee; coffee cups; 4-by-6-foot American flag; 3-by-5-
foot state flag; 6-inch wire wheel with 5/8-inch arbor; leaf blower; back-pack vacuum;
Ping-Pong table; Home Depot gift card; soft drinks; snacks
Station 26:60-inch TV; silverware for 12; microwave; two 42-inch TVs; heavy-duty pots
and pans; sofa; window blinds; plates for 12
Station 27: King Kong 7131 grill cover for Weber Genesis II; dumbbell rack; three Am
azon Fire sticks
Station 29: kitchen chairs (bar-height); large refrigerator; bench grinder with wire
wheel; back-pack blower; push mower; Home Depot gift card; hand angle grinder;
commercial coffee-maker and coffee; commercial-grade garden hose
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