Editorial: Keeping firefighters at base is crucial

The 2005 decision by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission to remove the 183rd Fighter Wing's F-16 jets and 163 jobs from Springfield still stings.

Though a court challenge by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to the move is still pending, nearly everyone involved in the fight to keep the jets here has accepted that they will be gone in October.

Yet there is one aspect of the impending departure of the 183rd for which the fight is only just starting. Unlike the battle to make BRAC change its mind on the 183rd, which many people knew going in would be next to impossible, many are hopeful that this one will succeed.

At issue is saving the 24-member fire department that serves the 183rd and also assists the Springfield Fire Department and many area volunteer departments in emergencies. One noteworthy example of that assistance came in November, when the 183rd's fire department sent its foam truck to help extinguish the fire that followed the explosion at the Dallman electric generating station.

While the 183rd still will be headquartered at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport after the F-16s depart, the loss of its flying mission means the loss of the fire department. For the Springfield area, that will mean loss of a highly skilled team of firefighters trained in, among many other things, addressing attacks with chemical and biological agents. It is the only department in the area certified to deal with chemical and biological events. It's loss also will mean a greatly reduced fire protection force for the airport, which will have to partner with the city to keep two firefighters on duty at all times at the airport. That could mean airport passengers pay more in fees, which would not help the airport's ongoing efforts to draw both passengers and airlines.

This week firefighter Kevin Schott, a longtime member of the 183rd's fire department, heads to Washington to seek help from this area's congressional delegation. The goal is to secure a flying mission for the 183rd that would mean, in turn, retention of the fire department.

Mayor Tim Davlin last week said a plan to bring four to six C-21s - the military version of the Lear jet - to the 183rd is a realistic option. The jets are used as both cargo and passenger carriers.

It's in this community's interest that Schott's trip to Washington is successful. From a public safety and homeland security standpoint, the closing of the fire department would be a tremendous loss. That is the strategy Schott and others involved in this effort must take.

"When you point out the safety and the need, you have a better chance than if you just try to put a dollar figure on it," said U.S. Rep. Phil Hare, D-Rock Island, noting that appeals to BRAC based on financial arguments don't work.

There is another reason gaining some kind of flying mission is important. BRAC will issue another report in 2010, and if the 183rd has neither a flying mission nor fire department then, it's much more likely to be passed over for a new mission, Schott said.

We hope our representatives in Congress fare better with this effort than with the admittedly Herculean task of taking on the BRAC report in 2005. The outcome this time could have public safety consequences for this community for many years to come.

State Journal-Register