Abbeville temporarily closing Hebert fire substation across Vermilion River

Beginning this Monday, June 1, the Abbeville Fire Department’s Hebert Substation No. 2 on the west side of the Vermilion River will close its doors.
The station’s more than 50-year-old history is not coming to a permanent end, though.
“The plan at this point is to close the fire station temporarily for at least a couple of months,” Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza said. We will see how it affects our response time.
“That is one of the key issues.”
It is a plan that has been discussed several times of the years. Piazza said he made the decision to move forward with the plan now mainly to help with shifts for the fire department.
“Budgets are always looked at and increase every year,” Piazza said. “We are always looking for ways to trim the budget without having to raise taxes or utilities. I was notified last week by our fire chief (Jude Mire) that four firemen are out on extended sick leave. One will be back soon, but that still leaves us three short on extended sick leave, which in the fire department could last as long as 365 days. We don’t anticipate that the three will be out that long, but it does present a scheduling problem.”
Piazza then suggested the temporary closure of the Hebert substation.
“It can alleviate some of the scheduling problem and overtime created by being short staffed,” Piazza said.
Each of the city’s three substations, which includes one on the La. 14 Bypass and another on Maude Avenue, is manned by two firemen per shift. Each shift is 24 hours, with 48 hours off afterward. There are three shifts in all, per substation.
“There is a total of six firemen at the (Hebert) substation who could cover other shifts,” Piazza said.
This will not be the city’s first venture into the closure of one of the substations. The substation on the Bypass was closed for three months in 2014 for extensive repairs.
“The substation on Maude Avenue reopened Tuesday and has been closed for two and a half months,” Piazza said. “It was closed for a major renovation. I was not told there were any issues and did not receive complaints from citizens in that area. Response time was not hindered.”
There are differences in the closure of the Hebert and Maude substations. Most notably the Hebert station is on the other side of the Vermilion River from the Main Fire Station. The downtown bridge and the Bypass bridge being up can delay passage over the river for moments at a time. Chief Jude Mire said a plan is already in place. Mire has communicated with officials from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
“They are going to let me know 24 hours a day any time the Perry Bridge goes up,” Mire said. “That will give us about 20 to 25 minutes before the downtown bridge goes up. When the Perry Bridge goes up, we will have a truck go across the river in case there is an emergency.
“They told me that both bridges (downtown and Bypass) are never up at the same time.”
The closure will not have a negative effect on the city’s fire insurance rating. The Property Insurance Association has Abbeville at a 3. The scale is based on 1-10, with 1 being the best.
“I have talked to our (fire) rating analyst who rates municipalities,” Piazza said. “The temporary closure will not affect our rating.”
The temporary closure leaving Abbeville with the main and two substations will leave the city on par with similar municipalities.
“Crowley has about 1,000 more citizens than we do,” Piazza explained. “They only have three fire stations, where we have four.”
Piazza stressed that the safety of all citizens is of the utmost importance.
“There are a lot of factors and issues with this,” Piazza said of the closure. “That is why this is strictly a trial period.”