The current Ballardvale fire station was built 125 years ago, Mansfield said, adding that the existing wooden facility is in poor condition.

 

The current building is also too small to house any large fire vehicles and there are no separate gender living facilities for the staff.  

Mansfield and Flanagan said they hope Town Meeting approves the purchase of an adjacent piece of property that would create a large enough lot for a new facility.

Each spring since 2015, Minnesota Energy Resources has partnered with the WPS Foundation to offer the safety grants to help emergency response agencies purchase equipment or implement training that improves public safety. Gas detection monitors, an automobile extrication tool and firefighting equipment are among the items this year's grants will help fund.  

Including this year's grants, the WPS Foundation has donated more than $43,000 during the past four years to help first responders improve public safety in communities Minnesota Energy Resources serves.

The station, one of four in Aberdeen, will remain open and functioning for the duration of the project, which is expected to take 14 to 18 months, John Bender, Aberdeen Fire Department vice president, said. Bender is also chair of the building committee. When that’s completed, an estimated 11,000 square feet of the existing building will be torn down and replaced with a 24,400-square-foot structure to add bunk rooms, meetings spaces, a banquet hall and offices. Bender said the fire company would like to award a construction contract in the next two to three weeks and break ground in early 2019.

The fire department says Engine 3 was responding to a call about smoke at a home on Boston Town Road when it turned uphill onto Kelly Cross Road and left the roadway, ending up partially in a ditch.

Chief Hatfield was the only one on the truck, and was uninjured. The Dunlap Fire Department says Engine 3 is out of service until it can be repaired.

The funding comes from the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.

The current fire pumper truck is 30 years old and lacks shoulder belts, so along with the application, Schumer wrote a letter in support of the grant, the release said.

 

Also supporting the funding are Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Claudia Tenney.  

“Up-to-date equipment is critical for our local fire departments, and the new fire truck will help our first responders better respond to emergencies and remain safe as they protect their our communities,” said Gillibrand in the statement. “We need to do everything we can to support our local fire departments, and I will always fight in the Senate to make sure they are given the resources they need.”