Steubenville firefighters voiced their concerns over a proposal to shut down one of the city's three fire stations and lay off a handful of firefighters during Tuesday's City Council meeting

While city officials said the move would balance the city's budget -- which needs to be finalized by March 30 -- firefighters said there were issues that council has not taken into consideration.

"What was the level of involvement of the fire chief in recommending that the No. 3 station be closed? Did anyone choose to involve him or get input from the department heads most responsible for safety of the citizens? I'm not in favor of closing any station but I would think the one that's least likely to be closed should be the Pleasant Heights station," said firefighter Greg Nagy.

Nagy said if one fire station had to be closed, he felt it should be the West End, where houses are further apart.

Firefighter Union President Local 228 Chris Blackburn said, "I'm here to express my disgust in the appraisal to even consider doing that. For the hilltop people, for the citizens of Steubenville, it's a total disregard."

Blackburn said he knows would the closure would do to response time.

"From one-bedroom fires that burn down three, that's what we're leading to in Steubenville," Blackburn added.

Some citizens also backed the firefighters at the council meeting.

Tereasa DiCarlantonio said, "I can vouch for what Mr. Blackburn is saying because when my sister came close to dying, that fire responding team came off the hill. They were there in three minutes and because of them they were able to save my sister's life."


City officials declined to comment after the meeting.

During a meeting earlier in the night, city officials addressed a review of the charter. A vote is expected to be taken by council on March 12. Stay with NEWS9 and WTOV9.com for continuing coverage.