New Bedford Woman Saved by NBFD Begs Mayor to Save Station 9

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — In the midst of the ongoing battle between Mayor Jon Mitchell and the New Bedford City Council over the planned closing of Fire Station 9, one city resident is pleading with the mayor to keep all fire stations open after sharing her story of how firefighters helped her on Monday.

WBSM listeners are well acquainted with Mary, the outspoken regular caller who has no problem telling it like it is. Her matter-of-fact delivery and unwavering viewpoints have endeared her to listeners, even if they don’t agree with her.

Usually, her calls are fiery and boisterous, but she placed a very reserved and emotional call to The Tim Weisberg Show on Tuesday morning.

A Terrifying Accident at New Bedford's Melville Towers

Mary shared the story of an incident on Monday when she was parking her car in the garage of Melville Towers, where she lives. She was backing her car into her designated parking space, and did what she had done so many times before: she got out of the vehicle to check and make sure she left enough room for the man who parks next to her.

However, this particular time, she forgot to put the car in park, and it began rolling toward her. The car ended up running over her left leg, and she was stuck on the ground, unable to get up. Someone in the office then called for help, and firefighters – presumably from Station 2, right next door to the garage – came over to help.

The firefighters arrived and were able to lift Mary up and get her back on her feet.

“They came and they made me feel like I was somebody important. Me, who is nothing to nobody,” she said. “They treated me like I was their mother.”

After it ran over her leg, Mary’s car kept on going until it eventually smashed head-first into a wall, busting up the front of the vehicle.

“It’s ruined, but they found a way to get in there and backed it up for me, put it right back into my designated spot,” she said.

New Bedford Firefighters Step Up Beyond Fire Calls

“They go beyond,” Mary said. “The people in the city of New Bedford need to know that firemen are not just for fires, they come for whatever you need and they will do what they have to do.”

Mary said the reason she wanted to call into WBSM and share her experience was to speak up on behalf of the firefighters in the face of Mayor Mitchell’s plan to close Station 9 in the city’s North End.

Local Business Owner Shows Support with Sweet Gesture

Mary stated how she wished she had a way she could go and thank the firefighters for their help, but she wasn’t even sure who it was or if they indeed came from Station 2. However, a local business owner was listening when she called in and had an idea.

Nicole Tracz, owner of Black Tie Cookies in Dartmouth, offered to drop off a few dozen cookies at the fire station on Mary’s behalf. She brought them to the station and left them with Captain Steven Torres – himself a hero who once used himself as a human shield to save a grandmother from flames – to give to the firefighters who helped Mary when they return to work on Wednesday.

“They’re heroes. I should call them supermen. I don’t want to go overboard, but I feel like I have to,” Mary said. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am to the firemen we have here, and to think that they want to close a fire station.”