CLIFTON, N.J. — The Dumont Avenue firehouse officially reopened Sunday morning as firefighters hoisted an American flag and peeled off signs announcing, “Sorry, we’re closed.”
Clifton’s Fire Station 2 had been shuttered for two months after firefighters and city officials argued over the city’s expenses. The firefighters’ union eventually agreed to two-week furloughs and the city reinstated 12 firefighters who had been laid off. The Clifton story has been one of the government-finance dramas playing out as tax revenues locally and statewide have fallen along with the economy.
At 8 a.m. sharp on Sunday, firefighters removed signs declaring the station closed and, to scattered applause, raised the U.S. flag in front of the small, brownish brick building.
The city of 78,000 again had six fire stations after firefighters turned on the lights, checked their radios and tested the single fire engine housed inside the station’s garage.
The reopening drew a small group of off-duty firefighters, one retiree and at least one resident. As they watched the firefighters test the fire engine, occasional passersby honked or waved.
“Very happy to have you!” one woman yelled as she drove by.
Residents near the fire station — as well as a nearby nursing home and schools ? have an obvious reason to cheer the station’s reopening.
The nearest fire station is about 2 miles away, adding two to three minutes to response times for firefighters and emergency medical technicians, said Robert DeLuca, president of the Firemen’s Mutual Benevolent Association, Local 21.
Sunday’s reopening also marked the day Chris Morris, one of the laid-off firefighters, rejoined his vocation.
“I love this job. Getting laid off from this was devastating,” said Morris, 36.
After finding some carpentry work during his two-month hiatus, Morris, a father of two children, ages 3 and 8, was having a tough time supporting his family’s budget.
“It was very stressful and now it’s just a big relief,” he said. “I’m just glad that everything worked out.”
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