Residents urge Normal council to maintain firehouse coverage; councilmember calls for work session

Normal — Three residents urged the Normal Town Council on Nov. 12 to preserve fire station coverage and add staffing, while a councilmember called for a special work session to reconcile differing analyses of response coverage.

Laura Williamson, identifying herself as a mother, teacher and resident, told the council she supports Normal firefighters’ requests for additional staffing and asked that Station 2 remain open to protect schools and neighborhoods. "Our town safety should be a top priority of this council," she said.

Katie Matthews recounted that a year earlier her daughter suffered a seizure at Grove Elementary and that help arrived after a prolonged delay because all town firehouses were tied up and Bloomington units responded; Matthews said emergency medication needed to stop the seizure was not administered for more than 12 minutes and urged the council to fund four working firehouses so responders can reach emergencies within five minutes.

Cindy Alcazar, a planning committee member with the McLean County ROSC recovery network, asked the council to promote a community survey on substance use and mental health and to share it with local networks.

Following public comment, Councilmember Lorenz described a union study she said shows closure of the College and Blair stations would likely degrade central coverage by about 9.8%, and contrasted that with a town email she quoted saying "the closure of Station 2 does not risk effective response or life saving measures in the central part of town." Lorenz said residents and council are confused by the two narratives and asked that the council hold a dedicated work session before year end to put both data sets on the table and determine what is actually happening.

The council adjourned at the end of the meeting; Lorenz exceeded her time limit during remarks but concluded by asking for a leadership‑level response and the special session.