Bismarck could soon add a multimillion-dollar fire station on the city’s southwest edge as the Fire Department works to improve protection amid the city’s continued expansion.

During a City Commission meeting on Tuesday, Bismarck Fire Chief Joel Boespflug presented a fire station location analysis that showed an immediate need for a station in southwest Bismarck. The site is one of three the department has been considering for future fire station needs in a growing city.

The other sites are in northeast Bismarck’s Silver Ranch area and in the northwest part of the city near Elk Ridge. Fire stations are still likely to be built at these locations in the future.

“We know that Bismarck will, at some point in time, be operating under eight fire stations,” Boespflug said.

Commissioners green-lighted the Fire Department to begin the process of selecting an architect to develop a design and cost estimate for the new station. Funding for the new station is already in place, according to Boespflug. A timeline for construction isn’t clear.

The new station is being proposed for the intersection of Burleigh Avenue and Calypso Drive, near the entrance of the Southbay subdivision, on a parcel already owned by the city. It would be the city’s sixth fire station, joining five others that are strategically located to meet national standards, Boespflug said.

The southwest site was identified based on a few criteria, with response time improvements being the greatest need. A roadway study shows that a new fire station in south Bismarck would have the greatest impact on improving response times.

The study found that the Tyler Parkway extension and a project to connect Century Avenue to 52nd Street would improve response times in those northern areas enough to delay the need for additional fire stations. However, road network improvements are not an option in southwest Bismarck, making a new fire station a necessary solution there, according to Boespflug.

“When we go to south Bismarck, we don’t have that opportunity for road network (improvements); it’s just simply a distance from the (Bismarck Expressway) fire station,” he said.

The proposed station would be built within the current response zone for the Bismarck Expressway station, improving coverage for a high-risk area south of Solheim Elementary School between Cottonwood Park and the Missouri River. The area has a population of over 5,000 residents, according to the 2020 U.S. census, and has seen 134 buildings constructed since 2020. There are 599 undeveloped parcels in the area.

Average response times in the area are about 5.3 minutes, with calls to the Southbay and Whispering Bay subdivisions reaching up to 6.9 minutes, which is beyond the department’s standards. The new station, if built at Burleigh Avenue and Calypso Drive, would cut those times down to three minutes, Boespflug said.

Commissioner John Risch on Tuesday expressed concerns over spending too much on architectural work and engineering. He suggested using Station 3, a smaller station located at Century Avenue and Tyler Parkway, as a model for the new station. Risch holds the Fire Department portfolio.

“I’d be happy to work with you and look those plans over and work with the architect,” Risch said. “I just want to be frugal about this. I want to treat our firefighters right, pay them right, train them right, all of those things.”

Boespflug said part of the process will be working with firefighters to identify needs, and then looking at past successes and failures of d

Paul Hughes
Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
(TNS)

May 14—WATERBURY — City officials estimate that a full renovation of Fire Station 1 on North Main Street will cost $5.5 million.

The city administration is asking the Board of Aldermen to approve an additional $6.7 million in city bonding to pay for the North Side Firehouse project, upgrades to several other firehouses, and preliminary costs related to the replacement of Fire Station 5 on East Main, including property acquisition.

The bonding request and a second one for $6 million for funding renovations to the city-owned One Exchange Place building will be subjects of two public hearings before Monday’s Board of Aldermen meeting set for 5:44 p.m. and 5:51 p.m. Aldermen could approve the bond issues at the regular meeting to follow. It will take 11 affirmative votes to approve each one.

Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. reminded the Board of Aldermen that Fire Station 1 is the next up in the ongoing program to update the city’s nine firehouses when he submitted the $6.7 million bonding request at its May 5 meeting.

In 2021, the Board of Aldermen approved an initial $1.3 million bond authorization for the fire station upgrades. The city administration reported that since then it was determined Fire Station 1 requires substantial renovations.

The scope of work for the planned $5.5 million renovation of Fire Station 1 includes structural repairs, interior renovations, including living quarters on the second floor, and necessary upgrades to meet safety and operational standards. The existing firehouse at 1979 North Main St. was constructed in 1968.

The city accepted requests for proposals from contractors for the Fire Station 1 project from March 28 to April 29.

The additional $1.3 million of the requested $6.7 million bond authorization will pay for replacement of the bay doors at Fire Station 10 at 26 Field St. and Fire Station 11 at 740 Highland Ave., kitchen renovations for Fire Station 4 at 823 Baldwin St., and roof repairs for Fire Station 6 at 431 Willow St.

It will also provide preliminary funding for preparations for the replacement of Fire Station 5, including property acquisition, relocation and demolition.

Fire Station 5 at 1956 East Main St. was built in 1927, and it is not only antiquated and worn down, but also considered functionally obsolete, according to city officials. It is considered too small to adequately serve the fire safety needs of East End neighborhoods.

The firehouse can only accommodate a single fire engine, and the single exit and entrance is at the congested intersection on East Main Street and Southmayd Road. City officials have also said the existing station is too confined to meet the personnel needs of the firefighters assigned there.

The Board of Aldermen voted Feb. 24 to authorize the city administration to acquire the Las Delicias Bakery & Restaurant property at 1980 East Main St. through a negotiated sale or eminent domain for the planned replacement of Fire Station 5 next door. It is a small 0.21-acre property with a three-story building constructed in 1926 that consists of commercial and retail space on the first floor where the bakery is housed and apartments on the upper two floors. The city last valued the property at $404,700.

The acquisition of the Las Delicias property would allow for the construction of a larger firehouse that could accommodate two modern fire engines, and it would also provide a second means of ingress and egress on Brookdale Lane, which will

Two firefighters with the Albemarle County (VA) Fire Rescue were injured recently when their pumper was sideswiped while they were responding to a call on a highway, the department said in a Facebook post.

“Thanks to built-in safety measures, damage was limited,” the post said. “But unfortunately, two of our firefighters sustained non-life-threatening injuries. These incidents are preventable.

“We urge all drivers: If you see flashing lights, move over or slow down. It’s a simple action that can save lives.

“Albemarle County Fire Rescue reminds all drivers that Virginia’s “Move Over” Law requires when approaching a stationary vehicle displaying flashing red, blue, or amber lights or that has activated its hazard warning lights, the driver of any motor vehicle must move over by making a lane change not adjacent to the stationary vehicle.”

The post Two VA Firefighters Injured When Pumper Is Sideswiped on Highway appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

Chris Ferrara, founder of US Fire Apparatus, says that the company’s stock unit program allows US Fire Apparatus to offer stock units available for immediate delivery from its Holden, Louisiana, facility. “The stock unit program allows us to meet the immediate needs of a fire department looking for an apparatus to purchase,” he says. “Some departments see stock units as a way to avoid the 48-month (or longer) delivery period that exists with other manufacturers.” He says US Fire Apparatus’s stock units allow fire departments to purchase a well designed and constructed fire truck within days instead of years.

• Exploring the Stock Fire Apparatus Option

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