The building is an old Jiffy Lube oil change shop located just south of I-12 at the corner of Millerville Road and Old Hammond Highway.

One ambulance will be permanently assigned to the station 24 hours a day. The building has adequate space for more ambulances and crews in times of emergencies.

The ambulance and crew are currently working out of the Eastside Fire Department.

The department had applied for grants in the past but never one of this size. The Thornton general fund covers the vast majority of the department’s costs, and fire officials generally have only applied for smaller grants to acquire new equipment, such as thermal imagers or cardiac monitors. Officials identified the SAFER grant as the city’s best shot for funding until the city budget can meet demand. After applying in February and waiting six months,FEMA awarded the department $1,957,068 million in mid-August.

Wilker purchased the truck, a 2005 model, last fall at an auction in Glencoe and said it was a deal he just couldn't pass up.

Ryan Kunkle, assistant chief of the Walton Community Volunteer Fire Department, said the 2008 Sutphen fire engine was bought for $67,000 from St. John-based Fire Service Inc. and that it had formerly been used by a fire department in Brownsburg.

Kunkle said the department keeps two engines, a tanker truck, a rescue truck and a grass fire truck at its main station in Walton and then another engine, tanker truck and grass fire truck at its station on 200 East and 450 South.