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10 February 2023
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Fire stations of the world: Colorado Springs opens 23rd fire station, US
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A new fire station officially opened Tuesday, 1 November 2022, in Colorado Springs. Station 23 is the new home for a squad that has been working out of temporary quarters in a classroom at the fire headquarters. “It's what we call it an infill station,” said Colorado Springs Fire Chief Randy Royal.
The new building has standard living quarters for the four-person crew. Station 23 also has longer bays for parking and use of fire apparatus and technology to help protect fire fighters health. "We all know that fire fighters have a high incidence of cancer because of the toxic substances they're exposed to," said Fire department Captain Mike Smaldino. "So, those carcinogens that might be stuck on the gear, we actually now have them in their own separate room, with their own separate ventilation system to just exhaust that air out."
Half of the station will be used by fire fighters; the other half is a radio shop that provides technicians with more space and greater efficiency for maintaining and repairing hundreds of police and fire department radios.
The new station is an expansion of a smaller unit that has been operating out of headquarters for several years.
Station 23 also is an area where medical calls are common; in fact, those calls are expected to comprise 70 percent of the call volume. "The surrounding stations had more than 30 000 medical calls last year," said Chief Royal. "That's a pretty heavy workload. And when those stations were out on calls, we had to cover for them. That's no longer necessary with the new station. So there's a need to put this one here in between all those stations to take some of that workload off."
The station is on Printers Parkway just east of downtown. It is positioned at a central point between four other long time fire stations. The four fire stations are the busiest in the city.
Colorado Springs is growing and that's part of the reason why the city opened up a new fire station today east of downtown. More fire stations are on the way to accommodate a growing need.
Relief from call volume is the reason for the $4,2 million investment in this station.
Officials already have plans to start construction on two more stations in 2023, one near the intersection of Powers Boulevard and Interquest Parkway on the city's northeast side and the other south of the city's airport in the Colorado Centre community.
Officials said that the city's ten-year plan calls for at least seven fire stations in the present city limits. "That's about 160 to 200 more fire fighters we'll need during that period," Chief Royal said.
Fire fighters also have started to assess fire response needs in the proposed Amara annexation area, covering 3 200 acres southeast of the city.
There are many more new stations in the works as a result of the city’s rapid growth. “We're looking at another maybe 10 to 11 stations in the next 10 to 12 years,” said Chief Royal.
The Colorado Springs Fire Department has staffed emergency response resources deployed throughout the city in order to reach the site of an incident within 8eight minutes from the time of the call 90 percent of the time. If an emergency is not primarily law enforcement related, the CSFD is generally the agency that responds to your 911 call for help. The department fully staffs 23 engine companies, six truck companies, one hazmat Team, one Heavy Rescue Team and three medical Ssquads. In addition, the department has 17 brush trucks for wildland fire fighting, one air supply truck, one hazardous materials decontamination vehicle and one hose wagon that can also be staffed with personnel and dispatched to emergencies.
Sources: Colorado Springs Fire Department, KOAA News5, KRDO
The new building has standard living quarters for the four-person crew. Station 23 also has longer bays for parking and use of fire apparatus and technology to help protect fire fighters health. "We all know that fire fighters have a high incidence of cancer because of the toxic substances they're exposed to," said Fire department Captain Mike Smaldino. "So, those carcinogens that might be stuck on the gear, we actually now have them in their own separate room, with their own separate ventilation system to just exhaust that air out."
Half of the station will be used by fire fighters; the other half is a radio shop that provides technicians with more space and greater efficiency for maintaining and repairing hundreds of police and fire department radios.
The new station is an expansion of a smaller unit that has been operating out of headquarters for several years.
Station 23 also is an area where medical calls are common; in fact, those calls are expected to comprise 70 percent of the call volume. "The surrounding stations had more than 30 000 medical calls last year," said Chief Royal. "That's a pretty heavy workload. And when those stations were out on calls, we had to cover for them. That's no longer necessary with the new station. So there's a need to put this one here in between all those stations to take some of that workload off."
The station is on Printers Parkway just east of downtown. It is positioned at a central point between four other long time fire stations. The four fire stations are the busiest in the city.
Colorado Springs is growing and that's part of the reason why the city opened up a new fire station today east of downtown. More fire stations are on the way to accommodate a growing need.
Relief from call volume is the reason for the $4,2 million investment in this station.
Officials already have plans to start construction on two more stations in 2023, one near the intersection of Powers Boulevard and Interquest Parkway on the city's northeast side and the other south of the city's airport in the Colorado Centre community.
Officials said that the city's ten-year plan calls for at least seven fire stations in the present city limits. "That's about 160 to 200 more fire fighters we'll need during that period," Chief Royal said.
Fire fighters also have started to assess fire response needs in the proposed Amara annexation area, covering 3 200 acres southeast of the city.
There are many more new stations in the works as a result of the city’s rapid growth. “We're looking at another maybe 10 to 11 stations in the next 10 to 12 years,” said Chief Royal.
The Colorado Springs Fire Department has staffed emergency response resources deployed throughout the city in order to reach the site of an incident within 8eight minutes from the time of the call 90 percent of the time. If an emergency is not primarily law enforcement related, the CSFD is generally the agency that responds to your 911 call for help. The department fully staffs 23 engine companies, six truck companies, one hazmat Team, one Heavy Rescue Team and three medical Ssquads. In addition, the department has 17 brush trucks for wildland fire fighting, one air supply truck, one hazardous materials decontamination vehicle and one hose wagon that can also be staffed with personnel and dispatched to emergencies.
Sources: Colorado Springs Fire Department, KOAA News5, KRDO
