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Several months ago I wrote about the history of the last two stations that have served the State Center Fire and EMS Department -- in City Hall prior to 1978 and our current facility. This month I want to share information about our current situation and limitations on how the department functions. The next article will focus on the proposed design and what is planned for the new building.
As previously shared, when the department moved into the current building in 1978, it had four fire trucks, yet the building was built to hold six. There was no EMS in State Center at that time. As demands and requests for services increased over the years, the fleet grew larger. We now have two engines, two brush/grass trucks, a tanker, and an ambulance. In addition, we have a Hazmat trailer that holds equipment for larger incidents and grain bin rescues, which is stored outside.
As our farming friends know, equipment has gotten much larger over time, and fire trucks are no different. Our 1960-era single-axle Ford pumper/engines were around 25-feet long.
The two engines we have now are 30-feet long and the future replacement will be longer yet -- making a future upgrade impossible, without requiring a vehicle to sit outside like the department did pre-1978.
Fitness is key to the health and longevity of firefighters and EMTs. In 2021, 54% of Firefighter Line of Duty Deaths were caused by overexertion, stress, or medical issues. When the alarm goes out, firefighters go from 0-100, and remaining in peak physical condition is very important. Society in general is not getting smaller, keeping our EMT's conditioned (strong legs, strong backs, flexibility) is of utmost importance for lifting and moving patients.
In 2006, we were awarded an Assistance to Firefighters Grant to purchase cardio and strength equipment and obtain physicals for all our members. The current station does not have the space, so we were allowed to utilize the "old" fire station space in City Hall.
When that building was updated in 2010 we had to relocate to the old "skating shed." Since that space was smaller, some of the equipment had to be placed in storage in two separate buildings. Our refurbished 1954 truck that's now used as our parade unit (Rob Roy) is stored in one of the City buildings on 9th Ave.
Since the current station has no storage, years ago our members used fundraising money to purchase an outbuilding to place on the east side of the station to store equipment. In it we have extra gear, hoses, nozzles, and other supplies and equipment that can't fit in the station.
Files, old archived records, more equipment (gloves, helmets, radio and pager batteries/supplies, etc.) are stored in the basement where my office is located, in addition to almost all administrative files.
If you're keeping count, that is six buildings throughout town your Fire & EMS department is located in. It's not an efficient way to run any business or city entity, let alone a public safety department.
When talking about efficiency, our response times to emergency calls are also affected by our current arrangement. Since there are only three bays in the station, trucks are double stacked. The brush/grass trucks and tanker are parked in the second row, which requires moving the first row of trucks to get them out. For security reasons, we cannot leave trucks out and the station open after we respond, so that requires parking the first-row trucks back in the station before responding -- all of which greatly reduces response times.
Lastly is our meeting/training room. We are blessed to have a large group of members. We're even more fortunate that many of them take time out of their busy schedules to attend meetings and trainings.
The issue is our training room is too small for those larger gatherings...especially when we host other departments. We often need to reserve the Community Room (if it's available), which again is not efficient, as we need to relocate A/V equipment and any necessary training aids for the meeting/training event.
In closing, as we prepare for the referendum in November, the Fire & EMS Department will host two public information events. The first one will be Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. in the Community Room above City Hall, and the second will be Oct. 26th at 6 p.m. There will be a brief presentation, and the architect and construction manager will be on hand to answer questions. We would like anyone who has questions, or just wants more information, to attend one of these events. We look forward to seeing you then.
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Brad Pfantz is the chief of the State Center
Fire and EMS departments.