Tamara Gregor
The Duncan Banner, Okla.
(TNS)
DUNCAN — With over 120 years of service to Duncan and three city fire stations, a fourth station is on the horizon for Duncan Fire Department in the coming months.
Duncan Fire Department Deputy Chief Ryan Ellis said the new fire station will come to the southeast side of Camelback Road and Highway 81.
Ellis said Duncan Fire Department was established in 1897 and consisted of community volunteers. He said the first fire truck was a wagon pulled by six men.
Around 1910, Ellis said the fire department brought on a horse-drawn wagon to go around town.
At that time, Ellis said the fire department was housed at the 700 block of Main Street on the south side of Duncan.
In 1915, the DFD purchased its first motorized truck and the wagon team was retired, Ellis said.
For the new construction of the fourth fire department, Ellis said the plans for an updated bay addition were approved by Duncan City Councilors July 8 for $7,519,269.12.
He said this will allow the building to be fully furnished and complete.
“That’s all parking areas, has a natural gas generator on it,” he said.
He said it will be 100% move in ready.
“We’re currently in the process of getting all paperwork completed (and waiting for) the drawings to get finalized,” he said.
Ellis said the department looks to get bids around mid-August for the project.
“I’m hoping for groundbreaking early in the fall, in September, early October for the station,” he said.
Ellis said the department can staff each station with three men. Because the national standard is four, Ellis said the department will look to hire on more crew over the next five years.
Duncan Fire, Ellis said, is an all-hazard response agency, which means firemen respond to more than fires. They respond to EMS, hazmat and rescue missions within the service area of 100-square miles.
“We’re not just serving the city limits, we’re serving several miles outside of the city limits – north, south, east and west,” he said. “It’s includes the city limits. We respond all the way to the city lakes and the county response areas.”
With work on the fourth station ongoing, Ellis said DFD consists of 48 members, 45 of which are line personnel and three of which are admin staff.
“Of the 45, that’ll have 15 guys per day, per shift responding,” he said. “That’s a maximum. The minimum will be 10 a day.”
Ellis said the DFD call volume continues to increase every year.
“Ten years ago, we ran about 2,500 calls,” he said. “We’re increasing 200-250 calls a year,” he said.
This year, Ellis said the department will push the 5,000 mark.
Last year, DFD ran 4,750, he said.
The new fire station will help with all the additional calls the department has coming in, he said.
Other work the department handles includes fire prevention for all of the public elementary schools, fire station visits for boys scouts and clubs, as well as walk throughs.
Ellis said the department also partners with the Red Cross for smoke alarm installations. He said in 2024, DFD installed nearly 350 smoke alarms.
The department also conducts fire inspections for all businesses throughout the community, as well as new construction, fire investigations and more. He said they have three people who are nationally certified to do the investigations.
“Everything is in-house,” he said.
For the fourth fire station, Ellis said the location is about 1,000 feet southeast of the corner of Camelback Road and Highway 81.
Ellis noted Station 1 was a 1940s model and Stations 2 and 3 were constructed in 1967.
“At that time, our