'A great place to be:' Brady St. firehouse reopens as new MFD Communications Center

MFD Communications Center

Engine Company 6 on Brady St. and Franklin Pl.

MILWAUKEE -- It's new, but familiar. The highly-revered Engine 6 firehouse is back open, but with a new purpose.

In Dec. 2017, Engine Company 6 on Brady St. and Franklin Pl., an institution on the lower east side, was closed because of budget cuts. Neighbors were heartbroken.

"If there was something that we could do to keep this firehouse open, every neighbor down here was willing to do so, but by the time we went to the meetings, it was already a done deal," said Donna Olson, owner of Hosed on Brady.

With the hoisting of the flag -- the firehouse was back open for business.

Engine Company 6 on Brady St. and Franklin Pl.

Carlos Velazquez

"It is now the Community Risk Reduction-Community Relations Division house," said Carlos Velazquez, firefighter said.

You could say the house is being re-purposed.

"We're here for them and I hope that they take a chance to come over and see what we're doing here," Velazquez said.

While the engine is no longer there, there is a vehicle which will be going out to different events in the city.

"We're going to be working with the children and educating them on what we have for fire prevention so that they can then take that information back to their parents," said Jeffrey Freitag, firefighter.

Jeffrey Freitag

The recreation room has become the communications director's office. The firefighter locker room is the new conference room.

Engine Company 6 on Brady St. and Franklin Pl.

"This conference room is going to have a computer link so that we have video-conferencing capabilities," Freitag said.

The apparatus room is filled with smoke alarms.

"The whole goal is that we're trying to visit every home, single-family and duplex, throughout the city by 2020 -- and we're well within our margin," said Freitag.

"It's a great place to be at," Velazquez said. "The community's great."

Engine Company 6 on Brady St. and Franklin Pl.