Jefferson City fire station in need of repair

One Jefferson City fire station is in dire need of replacement or remodeling.

ABC 17 News reported earlier this month, Jefferson City voters will decide on extending the city’s half-cent capital improvement sales tax in August.

If the extension passes, $912,500 would go toward fixing Fire Station 2.

Station 2 was built more than 45 years ago and department officials said it is falling into disrepair.

“The flat roof is a challenge with the weather,” Division Chief Jason Turner said. “We’ve really struggled in this particular building itself with some leaking. We’ve also struggled with the heating and cooling which was initially designed in the floor in this station.”

The foyer of the station triples as the front entrance, an office and a workout space.

The station only has one bathroom and shower men and women firefighters have to share.

“This station here in particular has one restroom,” Turner said. “It was accommodated back then for a male population here in the fire department and we want to make sure we provide those accommodations for all of our employees.”

In the sleeping quarters, there is also little room for privacy.

In addition, Turner said Station 2 has had several plumbing issues, it is not energy efficient and there is no severe weather protection for the firefighters.

But most importantly, the station is not big enough to hold larger fire apparatus if the east side of town were to one day need it. Turner said Station 2 was designed for smaller trucks that were used in the time when the station was built.

“Fire trucks have become a lot bigger,” Turner said. “if we wanted to relocate a ladder truck here into this facility, it wouldn’t fit today. And of course, we don’t want to build a fire truck that we know is going to have to be designed around a particular station.”

An extension of the half-cent sales tax is also needed to cover the costs of leasing some of the fire trucks and providing fire equipment.