Columbia Fire Department breaks ground on new station
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia residents and City Council members joined the Columbia Fire Department for the groundbreaking of its new station.
Fire Station No. 11 will be located at 6909 Scott Boulevard. The new location will serve a five-mile radius, and will help alleviate some of the strain other departments experience.
The project is estimated to cost $4.8 million. The project is funded by the 2015 voter-approved one-quarter-cent Capital Improvement sales tax. The City Council also approved the cost for 12 new firefighters to staff the station in the budget the Council approved last week.
"Fire stations are unique projects, because obviously it's going to have you know the trucks, and it's going to have the equipment," Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe said at the ceremony. "These are really great individuals who work very hard to make our community safe, and they often respond to people on the worst day of their lives."
The new location will feature 10,084-square feet of working space; including living quarters, training room, commercial kitchen, fitness area and two office areas. A room will be dedicated to for equipment repair, and another will house an industrial washing system that will be used to clean and and decontaminate equipment. The station will also have three apparatus bays to park the firetrucks.
The new station will be equipped with solar panels, ground source heating and cooling, and will have a supplemental power generator to provide backup electrical power.
Acting Fire Chief Clayton Farr Jr. said the new station will handle emergencies that were once responsible by Fire Station No. 6, located on Chapel Hill Road, and Fire Station No. 7, located on Green Meadows Road.
"This is going to allow the Columbia Fire Department to provide fire rescue, hazardous materials, emergency medical services to be delivered to our residents at a much more-timely fashion," Farr said.
The Fire Station No. 11 one-of-two stations the city is planning to build. Station No. 11 is designed to cover the southwest portion of Columbia, and Station No. 10 will cover the eastern portion of Columbia.
Buffaloe said the city is still looking for land for Fire Station No. 10.
