After almost two decades of working out of a three-stall barn, the Sioux Center (IA) Fire Department is opening its new $1.3 million Station 2, reports ktiv.com. But there’s more sentiment behind it than just new working quarters.

Station 2’s main designer was Fire Chief Dave Van Holland’s son, Jason. He served in the department from age 16 until 36, when he unexpectedly passed in February 2021 due to an enlarged heart, the report says. The department has a memorial in his honor in the new station, as well as a center outside that honors all the fallen firefighters from Sioux Center.

An open house is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, October 7 from 5:30-7 p.m. The department will be serving hamburgers and hotdogs and giving the public an inside look at the new station, located at 1510 South Main Ave.

Station 2 is more than 7,200 square feet and can house up to four engines. It includes a new open locker gear room, a wash bay, a museum room home to the department’s 1931 REO fire truck, and a quicker response time.

It took nearly two years to complete and was funded by the City of Sioux Center, community donations, and the Sioux Center Fire Department.

Related Articles:
Sioux Center (IA) Gets Funding for Fire Station Project
Sioux Center (IA) Fire Department to Hold Open House for Station 2 on Oct. 7
Antique Fire Equipment Featured at Sioux City Public Museum (IA)

Dublin (MI) Elementary School third grader Madison Brand showed up to school one day in late September like any kid dreams of—in a White Lake Township fire engine, reports spinalcolumnonline.com.

Brand’s ride was a thank you from the crew for raising money for the department via her lemonade stand for relief efforts from a July tornado, according to the report. She raised more than $100 and donated it in the form of a Kroger gift card.

In addition, the department presented Brand with her own fire helmet with the firefighters’ radio identification numbers and a plaque as more thank yous, the report says.

On September 23, Brand received her special ride with Firefighter David Mills picking her up at her home and dropping her at school with the apparatus’ lights flashing and sirens blaring. Her parents, classmates, and teacher met her at the school, the report says.

This was not Brand’s first rodeo with regards to helping people. Last year, she raised money to buy toys for the children’s center at the University of Michigan Health Center, the report says. Also, for several years she’s helped create care packages for local fire departments.

Rosenbauer—Starkville (MS) Fire Department 100-foot aerial platform quint. King Cobra cab and chassis; Cummins X15 505-hp engine; Hale Qmax 1,500-gpm pump; 450-gallon polypropylene water tank; clean-cab concept; first King Cobra delivered in Mississippi. Dealer: Lucky Briggs, Goldys Fire Apparatus, Tupelo, MS.

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