Nearly 20 years in the making, Mesa officials debuted the new Fire Station 203 on South Alma School Road July 11 at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The 12,000-square-foot station sits on 1.7 acres and is approximately four times the size of the old 203 station, Deputy Chief Forrest Smith said.
The new Fire Station 203 has three apparatus bays for fire trucks, six dorm rooms for firefighters, two dorm rooms for captains, a fitness center, a fire and EMS training room, additional locker space for gear exposed to fire and smoke and an onsite fuel station.
That’s a significant upgrade from the original 1950s station -- Mesa’s oldest -- that had plumbing problems, was too cramped for modern emergency response vehicles and had other structural concerns, said Mesa Fire and Medical Department Chief Harry Beck.
“Fire trucks were a lot smaller then,” Smith said. “They weren’t as high profile, they didn’t have the same technology as we have now, so we literally were having a tough time trying to fit our trucks inside that station. The newer style gives us that accessibility.”
Mesa voters approved public safety bonds twice for this project: $4 million in November 2013 to pay for construction and about $1.7 million in 2008 to acquire the property, according to the city.