By Alan M. Petrillo

Mobile (AL) Fire-Rescue Department has opened its newest fire station—Station No. 18 in the Spring Hill section of the city, a 6,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility that cost $2.5 million.

Jeremy Lami, Mobile Fire-Rescue’s chief, says that Station 18 incorporates the latest safety features for the department’s firefighters, including a decontamination room with particulate extractors and equipment for deconning turnout gear, a ventilation system to extract harmful fumes and gases from the apparatus bays, and fast-opening bi-fold apparatus bay doors to allow apparatus a safer, faster exit from the station.

Sandy McArthur, president of Watermark Design, the architectural firm that designed and built Station 18 for the department, says the new station is built on the same site as an older station from the 1950s that had outlived its usefulness. “Station 18 is based on a prototype building we designed for the city of Mobile,” McArthur points out. “This is the third station we’ve done, having previously built a three-bay and a four-bay station.”

Station 18 has two double-deep, drive-through apparatus bays located in the center of the single-story brick structure, he notes. “On one side of the apparatus bays is the administrative side of the station, with the captain’s office, decon room, fire sprinkler room, kitchen, turnout gear room, radio room, and public restrooms,” McArthur says. “There’s a laundry room with an extractor and turnout gear drier, which with the turnout gear storage area has its own ventilation system to keep contaminants out of the living spaces.”

Despite a few finishing touches still to come, the grand opening of the new, $6.7 million North Conway (NH) Fire Station is set for Saturday, May 22 at 10 a.m., reports conwaydailysun.com.

The invited guests include Gov. Chris Sununu, State Sen. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro), and retired State Fire Marshall Paul J. Parisi.

Located at 70 Norcross Cir. on the site of the former ‘60s-era brick station, the new station has five bays, a dirty holding area, clock tower, and offices on the northern end. The lower level has a small conference room and office for the chief, as well as support spaces for accessing the vehicle bays. Upstairs is a training/common room, bunk room, kitchen space, and an atrium over the rescue vehicle bay.

North Conway Water Precinct voters approved the new station at their annual precinct meeting in June 2020 by a vote of 45-3.

Related Articles:
Construction on North Conway (NH) Fire Department Station Ahead of Schedule
North Conway (NH) Getting New Fire Station
North Conway (NH) Fire Station Construction Nears Completion

Huntington City (WV) Council recently approved the purchase of a property at 3208 and 3210 Piedmont Rd. in Westmoreland to be the future site of a station, reports herald-dispatch. The negotiated price was $55,000, but the appraised value of the half-acre was $95,000.

Officials say that the design phase hasn’t yet begun but estimate that construction wouldn’t start for another year or two.

The current Westmoreland station, located on Camden Road, was built in 1926. Officials say that the new station has been in the works since 2012.

The Greenfield and District (Canada) Volunteer Fire Department recently bought a tanker for just $1, and the apparatus was pulled into action a few days later, reports thestar.com.

It all started about a year ago during a call when the motor went out in Greenfield’s 30-year-old tanker. Reluctant to spend $10,000-$40,000 for a temporary fix, a fire official noticed the Facebook page Nova Scotia Fire Equipment Swap and Trade or Sell and quickly responded.

An official Kennetcook had posted the tanker for $1 and agreed to sell it at that price with a gentleman’s agreement that Greenfield would do the same when it was time for them to sell it.

The truck had been gifted previously to Kennetcook—which used it for several years—for the same price by Maitland Fire Department.

Greenfield’s new truck—a 1997 Freightliner that holds about 1,500 gallons of water, the same amount its predecessor held—was picked up from Kennetcook on April 19, and, five days later, was called into action to battle a forest fire at Molega Lake.

It’s hoped that this latest apparatus will last the department for at least the next 12-14 months, until it receives a new one that was ordered last week, after the department secured a $600,000 loan.