There are four other fire stations at DIA but the new station was built to keep up with the growth at the busy airport. The fire station is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Kim Day, the CEO of DIA, led the opening ceremony and explained the station will support the record-breaking airport traffic. The main area of priority for the fire station is Pena Boulevard, the final approach lot and the new infrastructure anticipated for that corridor.

The fire station boasts 18,000 square feet of space which has been designed to look like an airport hangar. The station houses one engine and a truck but there are plans to add more equipment.

The station also has an on-site training area for firefighters along with typical fire station amenities like sleeping quarters, a lounge area and a kitchen

The new trucks are part of the Mayors commitment to replace aging equipment within the department. A fifth truck is currently on order and is expected to arrive by summer.

Engine 6, Edwards Station located on Hillcrest Road at Cottage Hill Road.
Engine 7, Seelhorst Station located on Commerce Blvd off Rangeline Road.
Engine 16, Lathan Station located on Maryvale Street at Dauphin Island Parkway.
Engine 23, Sirmon Station located on Airport Blvd at Florida Street.

A breakdown provided to The Daily Gazette showed that, while most of the department's 29 members make a base salary of between $49,000 and $59,000, overtime, health insurance, retirement benefits and other costs add up to an average annual cost of $110,000 per firefighter.

The fire department's contract with the city ran out in 2013 but is rolled over every year until a new contract is put in place.

The average salary at the fire department -- with overtime, holiday and personal time buyouts -- is $72,275. Chief Thomas Groff pulls down $90,000 a year, while Battalion Chief David Rackmyre makes $103,000. The lowest-paid firefighter makes an annual salary of $57,000.

Gloversville Mayor Dayton King said that, while negotiations between the department and the city are ongoing, the two sides can't seem to get within range of one another on a package of cuts.

"They're giving us options that aren't even close," said King of the department's latest cost-cutting offer, which he claimed amounted to $79,000 in savings.

Gloversville Firefighter's Association president Ed Martelle said the union won't comment on the negotiations. The union's lawyer, John Black of the Albany-based firm Hinman Straub P.C., also would not comment.

"It is the policy of the union not to discuss contract negotiations with the press," said Black in an email. "The city had agreed to the same policy."

King said he spoke out because negotiations seem to be stalled.

"I just think, the way it is now, they either think we're bluffing [about putting a referendum vote on the ballot], or they think the community is OK with spending this kind of money," King said.

City officials have yet to work out what the referendum language would be, but if a majority of residents vote for the city to restructure the fire department, it would allow city officials to bypass binding arbitration and would give them the upper hand in negotiating a budget decrease, King said.