Moberly Fire Department hosts ceremony for new fire station

MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Moberly marked progress toward opening its first new fire station since 1977 on Tuesday.

The Moberly Fire Department held a "topping off" ceremony for a new fire station at 1445 S. Morley St., which is set to open in May 2027.

People at the event Tuesday signed a steel beam that will be used to build the new station.

Moberly Fire Chief Don Ryan said the new station will bring big opportunities for improvement for the fire department.

"The training aspect of things that's coming with this and just the newness of it, the city deserves it and the guys are appreciating the fact that they're going to be the ones that get to take advantage of it," Ryan said.

Ryan said the new station will pick up calls on the south side of town. MFD's average response time is around 4 minutes.

Ryan said the goal is to have an enclosed structure built before winter so contractors can continue to work through the winter to meet their expected May finish.

Ryan said that while there may be delays due to weather, he expects to be operating within a week of the facility's completion.

Moberly City Manager Michael Bugalski said the new station has been in the works for at least four years.

The project cost $5 million, with money coming from federal, state, and local governments. Moberly received $1.2 million in federal funding from UDSA, which Bugalski said will help pay for the department's training tower.