DECATUR, IL—Firefighters could soon begin responding to calls from their newest station, a multimillion-dollar facility on West Mound Road that will serve Decatur's north side.
Work on Fire Station 5 has transitioned to the facility's interior, where walls are being painted and electrical wires and kitchen cabinets installed. Decatur Fire Chief Jeff Abbott said the hope is to be operating out of it by December. The five-bedroom facility won't be 100% complete until spring because some minor work will remain.
Julie Baldwin, a resident on nearby Greenridge Drive, said she thinks the new fire station location is a good one, though she hopes not to hear sirens all the time.
“There are a lot of elderly people in this area and, you know, it'll help people who fall a lot,” said Baldwin, 65.
The station's new location was chosen to cover calls to the northern and western city limits. It replaces a facility at 225 E. Christine Drive that was built in 1962. Council members approved the $2.7 million construction contract in September 2018.
The relocation is part of an $8.6 million plan that will also include new facilities for Fire Station 3 in Fairview Park and Fire Station 7 at Decatur Airport. Officials say the moves will allow for needed facility upgrades and will also improve response times to calls. Crews aim to meet national standards of less than four minutes, 90% of the time.
“We looked at how to provide the best response times, the best locations for now and the future,” said Abbott. “Wherever they're located, that's believed to be best response time for that location. We try to get each one to cover seven square miles.”
A facilities assessment was conducted by Dewberry Architects on all seven stations in 2016. The analysis concluded that the most cost-effective solution would be to rebuild three stations and make upgrades to the other four.
Another major reason to move some stations is that city boundaries have expanded since the 1960s and 1970s, when five of the facilities were built.
Safety measures were outdated in the older buildings, and new designs include upgrades like a fire suppression system and exhaust filters. In the former Fire Station 5, electric cables were stapled to the outside of the building. Parts of its dorm room ceiling collapsed in summer 2015, revealing mold that had to be removed.
Wires in the new facility will run to one central point, allowing for emergency calls to appear on screens throughout the station, said Abbott.
“For anybody in the community that's counting on the fire department to respond, it's important to know our buildings are safe and we're able to get out in an emergency,” said Abbott.
The plan was approved by city council members in September 2018. Relocation funding of $8.6 million was acquired through bonds to be repaid at the cost of $600,000 average per year for the next 20 years, according to City Treasurer Gregg Zientara.
An additional $2.2 million was borrowed by the city to renovate four other city fire stations, which have already been updated with many of the similar new amenities included in the relocated stations.
“None of that stuff was in fire stations in the '60s and it's commonplace now,” Abbott said. “Technology has progressed since the time they were built.”
Decatur City Council members earlier this month approved a new location for Fire Station 3: 855 N. Fairview Ave., a space formerly occupied by the Kroger gas station in Fairview Plaza.
The facility would be roughly half a mile north of it current spot at 1308 W. Eldorado St. in Fairview Park. That station is the city's oldest, dating to 1927, and has long been too small for its needs.
The new facility will cover most of Decatur's west side. Station 3 was placed along Illinois 48 to allow for emergency coverage on the north and south side of U.S. 36, which essentially splits the down the city.
"The current location wasn't big enough, and the Fairview Plaza location works out to allow us to accomplish both of those goals," said Abbott.
Abbott said a location has not yet been decided for Fire Station 7, built in 1970 at 1250 S. Airport Rd.
A memo to city council members released last week said the plan is to put both projects out for bid this winter, with a goal of beginning construction in the spring.
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