Fire Station No. 8
In 1980 the City of Charlotte made some budget cuts across many services to help balance the city's finances. Unfortunately Fire Fighting services ended up being one of the services the commision decided to limit. The commission, led by Assistant City Manager Robert Hopson, chose many fire engines and their teams around the Charlotte area for elimination. But not all of the teams went quietly.
The City of Charlotte put the Second Engine Company of Fire Station Number Eight under the chopping block. Fortunately, the neighborhood that the fire station protected, Plaza Midwood, had a strong neighborhood association with strong leadership. The President of the Plaza Midwood Neighborhood Association, Cindy Seaford, led a fight against the city to keep the Fire Station intact. She rallied the neighborhood, the firestation, and the Charlotte Fire Fighters Association to fight against the disbandment of the Second Engine Company. They argued that their neighborhood contained historic buildings and the elderly and represented a higher risk of damage and injury than other areas. In addition, the defenders of the fire station contended that the commission that decided on the budget cuts failed to properly review Plaza Midwood in particular before making a descision to cut services. Along with the station's Captain Jerry Holmes, Seaford successfully prevented the budget cuts from affecting the Plaza Midwood neighborhood and its people.
The fire station maintained two engine companies until, in 2012, the Plaza Midwood fire station lost one of its two engine companies due to budget cuts. According to Dolph Davis, a current firefighter at the station, the neighborhood did not fight as hard to save the fire company this time.