The new addition is a big difference compared to what they had to work with before. One room pulled quadruple duty as a meeting room, a kitchen, the bedroom, and the living room.

Now the station has private rooms for 24-hour shifts, a spacious living area, a brand-new kitchen, and male and female locker rooms.

“Which we didn’t have in the past, we had one bathroom with a shower that all of us shared,” said Chief Cory Glover.

A good portion of the department is made up of volunteers, and the added space allows them to stay overnight.  That shortens response times, potentially saving lives.

The southbound truck approached the intersection at the courthouse shortly after 6 a.m. and had a green light. The firetruck was en route to a fire and had its lights and sirens activated when the accident happened.

As of 9:45 a.m., it appeared the Bastrop Fire Department truck was at fault in the crash.

The wreck forced the big truck up on the curb and into the front of a Bastrop antique store, formerly Snyder's Department Store, owned by Marc Vereen. Vereen said at least one of the front windows was shattered. He has not yet inspected the rest of the building to determine if any interior damage exists.

The report, by Latham-based consulting firm C.T. Male Associates, outlined significant repairs said to be needed, as well as work to bring the Midtown building up to current standards. The firm then created a document that broke the initial report into high-, medium- and low-priority needs in the 110-year-old structure.

The high-priority work alone would cost less than everything suggested in the initial report, but still amount to nearly $2 million. That is more than half of C.T. Male’s total estimate of $3,796,868.

The C.T. Male reports came on the heels of one prepared by Peak Engineering that said reinforcements to the firehouse’s concrete floor, where fire trucks are parked, had deteriorated significantly.