Portage Fire Station 3 is relocating to a new building on Central Avenue, just south of Founder’s Square, as part of an effort to increase space and efficiency.
The need for a new, centrally-located station was a result of both the growth of the city and the department. Currently, the city’s 100’ aerial truck resides in Fire Station 2 on the north side of town, but the growth of the city’s central and southern areas of town, specifically along Route 6, has created the need for the aerial to be more centrally located.
“The city became a city in 1968,” Portage Fire Department Chief, Thomas Fieffer, told IIMM. “Back then, there was a bunch of farm area and U.S. Steel. Today, we have this whole Route 6 Corridor, the high school, movie theatre, and a whole lot of buildings that would need an aerial truck.”
Additionally, the location of Fire Station 3 would allow for the city’s 24-hour Duty Officer to be more centrally located as well.
“The only place we had room for (the 24-hour Duty Officer) was at Fire Station 1 located at the southern part of the city,” said Fieffer. “Now we can move him to a more centralized location as well.”
“The new building will allow us to strategically place help,” Fieffer added. “That’s the whole goal: that this will help lead to better response time.”
But there are other benefits to the new station as well. For one, the previous station, built in 1968, was adapted for the types of fire trucks that existed in 1968; which are much different in comparison’s to today’s more modern and larger trucks.
“Back in 1968 fire trucks were the size of a pickup,” Fieffer commented. “Now, they are the size of a semi. As a result we have to custom order trucks that are smaller that will fit in the garage and we have to back these trucks in. The new station will have a much larger garage with drive-thru openings and our guys won’t have to worry about backing the truck into the garage.”
And the result of this new two-way garage will be money saved for the city through not having to purchase custom, smaller trucks, but more importantly better space and safety for the firefighters who drive these trucks and then have to back them into the, currently, 10’ wide garage.
Finally, it’s not just the trucks that will be getting more space, the firefighters themselves will also be getting more personal room inside the station.
“The average person at works needs about 800-1000 square feet of personal space in order to do their job well,” said Fieffer. “Right now at the current station, our workers have about 200 square feet of personal space. This new location and station will give them the space they need.”
Better space, better location, and better response times. The new Fire Station 3 appears to be a win all around for the City of Portage, the Fire Department, and its residents. The tentative plan to break ground on the project is the end of this month, July 2015, with the hope of completion by summer or early fall of 2016.