The new facility located near the intersection of F.M. 406 and State Highway 289 began operations in January, but Davis said they have been working for about two years to plan and construct the $400,000 EMS station.

“It’s bigger and better and a better location,” Davis said. “It allows us to get to emergencies on a more balanced time.”

Previously, the ambulances were housed about three miles north at the Preston Fire Station on Highway 289. Davis said the location of the new station is more strategically placed as it is near a major intersection and centralized for the area it serves.

Following the ceremony, tours were given through the facility, which has an office, three bedrooms, a kitchen, a living area and a large garage with two oversized doors.

Riggs said Preston EMS is staffed with 12 full-time EMTs and paramedics. Compared to their previous facilities, he said this building is much better.

“It feels great to have the ceremony and for all the support that showed up,” Riggs said. “… It’s just an extremely nice facility.”

The EMS station was funded from five years of grants and donation.

EMS Station 50, located on Goethals Avenue, sits adjacent to the Queens Hospital Center complex. FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro and Commissioner Feniosky Pe–a-Mora of the city’s Department of Design and Construction attended the opening ceremonies last week.

Nigro, in a press release issued with Feniosky, said with the opening of station 50, the city has more than doubled the number of stations citywide since the merger of EMS and the FDNY 20 years ago.

“Today our members respond to more calls than ever before, including 1.7 million responses in the last year alone,” Nigro said.

He said the city will continue to invest in paramedics, EMTs, officers and infrastructure to meet the unprecedented need by placing resources “where they can quickly and effectively respond when they are needed most.”

The city said 30 basic and advanced life support tours will run out of the station each day. DDC said the $22 million, 13,000-square-foot facility is the new home of Queens Borough EMS Command, and is capable of housing six ambulances and a major emergency response vehicle.

The building has been in the works for a few years, but the city has acknowledged that Queens does need more ambulance coverage.

The firefighters are back at station three, after sewage gas leaked in the station.

“Over the last few weeks, our personnel started to notice a sewer odor in the building,” said Chief Sean Douglas. “It came on pretty sudden on a Friday afternoon."

The smell was so strong, firefighters moved to station one.

Chief Douglas says plumbers have found multiple possible sources of the leak, but the main one appears to be an abandoned sewer vent pipe.

"Years ago when they put the generator in, they damaged the pipe somehow and they did a temporary patch," explained Douglas.

That's now been capped off and smell is gone, but firefighters say it's not the first time the smell has disappeared only to come back again.

"It's been a sporadic deal,” stated the chief. “We are trying to address it and get it taken care of."

Last year, we told you about an unknown substance found in the ditch by the station, which forced firefighters out.

During that time, mold was found inside, and remediation took six months.

And they might not be as far along in its construction were it not for about $12,000 in Oklahoma Forestry Services grant money the department qualified for last year, said Sharon Fire Chief Bill Philips.

“We were building this new station last year and that money really helped,” he said. “This year we plan to apply again because we have not insulated it yet or wired it for electricity yet and so whatever we get this year could be a help.”

This week, the Oklahoma Forestry Service sent out a notice to remind small rural departments that there is a chance they could qualify for money that could purchase new equipment or help them refurbish equipment that needs repair.

 According to a release, any departments in communities with populations less than 10,000 can apply  for 2016 Rural Fire Defense 80/20 Grants, which provide for equipment purchases and fire station construction. Fire chiefs should apply through Oklahoma Forestry Services by Sept 1.

Volunteer firefighters serving small communities account for more than 69 percent of personnel working to douse fires across the state of Oklahoma.