A new fire station is opening in Springfield for the first time in nearly three decades.
The ribbon cutting to mark the official opening of Station 8, 600 Rickard Road will take place Thursday at 2 p.m.
The public will have their first chance to tour the station and see some of the fire equipment up close during an open house on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.
More: Sneak peek: A firsthand look at what Springfield’s three new fire stations will look like
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Fire Chief Ed Canny said crews will move to two other new stations this year: Station 6, which will move to 2121 S. 11th St., and Station 13, which will be located on Spaulding Orchard Road just west. of Illinois4.
The old Station 8 at 2051 W. Monroe St. dates to 1969.
The last new station opened in Springfield was No. 12 at 2925 S. Koke Mill Road in 1996, the year before Canny joined the fire department.
He expected staff to move to Station 8 by June 10.
Station 8 is moving directly west, Canny said, but crews will be able to get further west and further north more quickly because they are now on arterial roads including Lawrence Avenue and Illinois 4.
“At the old Station 8, wherever they went they had to go uphill, and that’s hard with these big diesel engines,” Canny said. “Where we will be now, we will be on flat land or downhill.”
Canny took over as chief after the three fire stations were designed and the City Council had already allocated the $25 million to build all three under the direction of O’Shea Builders.
Construction of Station 8 was not without its ups and downs, Canny admitted, but he called it “a state-of-the-art facility” designed with safety in mind.
“We protect the citizens, but the new home protects those firefighters first,” Canny said.
That includes a “de-con” room adjacent to the equipment room. An extractor, Canny said, has certain chemicals to remove carcinogens from firefighters’ pants and jackets.
A separate washer and dryer will remove any blood-borne pathogens that crew members may have picked up during medical calls, he said.
Drivers will no longer have to get into the rigs at the new station, Canny said.
They enter from Rickard Road on the south side, circle the building and then move into the bay, facing west, he said.
Although there are several businesses around Station 8, it is in a neighborhood, Canny said.
“Because this is our firefighters’ second home, the neighbors will get to know each other (the men and women) and become a neighbor,” Canny said. “We try to make sure that we take care of those neighbors just like they take care of us and are very friendly. It is part of the history of the fire service. Wherever we have been, we have tried to integrate into those neighborhoods and serve those citizens as best we can.”
Given that setting, Canny said crews will “use common sense” when activating sirens coming from the fire station.
Daniella Ramirez, who lives in a duplex on Lawrence near Rickard, admitted she was more concerned about the noise it could bring.
“Otherwise, I feel safe if there’s a fire station nearby,” she said.
Lindsay Palmer, who recently returned to the Rickard home where he grew up, said he was grateful that one of the builders, PH Broughton & Sons, Inc., repaired an existing storm drain because there was water in the street near his house. . That was caused by a retention pond just north of the fire station.
“(The fire station) is good for the neighborhood,” Palmer said.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared in State Journal-Register: New fire station ready to open in Springfield. Take a look inside first
