A decade-and-a-half after being deactivated, Ladder 11 in South Philadelphia now back in service, writes Cherise Lynch for NBC 10 Philadelphia.

This year also marks the 60-year anniversary for the South Philly firehouse.

Ladder 11 was one of seven companies that were forced to close during The Great Recession in 2009. All of them had been in service for more than a century at that point, according to the Fireman’s Hall Museum.

The fire department’s reopening is thanks to a new $22 million grant from FEMA. The funding also helped the City reopen Ladder 1 in Francisville in December, and Engine 6 in Port Richmond at a later date.

“This has been a long time coming. The fire department is a family. When companies go out of service, it has a devastating impact,” said Acting Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy. “The firehouse is normally a place of refuge. You develop relationships in that community that only happen there. When you take that away, you lose a lot more than just protection.”

The other four companies – Engine 1 in South Philly/Center City; Engine 8 in Old City; Engine 14 in Frankford; and Engine 39 in Roxborough – were each restored in 2019.

Read more about the reopening of a long-closed fire station in NBC 10 Philadelphia. 

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