By Mara H. Gottfried
Pioneer Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The reopening of a fire station in St. Paul marks the first time in 67 years a station has been added in the city.
Station 3, previously called Station 1, on West Seventh Street and Grand Avenue, closed in 2010. Its return to work will mean faster response times in the area, Fire Chief Butch Inks said Tuesday at a ribbon cutting.
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The station has “been part of this community for generations,” Inks said. “Fifteen years ago, Station 3 closed its doors as an active firehouse, and since then, this building has never stopped serving. … This firehouse strengthens one of the busiest business and entertainment corridors in the city.”
Built in 1965, overhauling the station cost $3 million. It brings the number of stations in St. Paul to 16 again after 15 years with 15 stations.
“This whole system has to work together, so to have a better service like we just planted right now on West Seventh means better service city-wide,” said Mayor Melvin Carter.
Station for increased demand downtown
Inks is retiring at the end of this month. Carter honored him Tuesday with a proclamation designating Dec. 9, 2025, as Chief Barton “Butch” Inks Day.
Inks took his first call as a St. Paul firefighter 31 years ago from what is now Station 3.
“Since then, I’ve seen a great deal of change,” he said. “The most significant is the tremendous increase in demand placed on our first responders. Our firefighters, EMTs, paramedics and our administrative support staff are shouldering more than they ever have before, and still, this organization answers every call.”
The challenge is not only adding resources, but where to place them “because we were literally out of space” at stations, Inks said.
The reopened station will help address the need for fire services downtown, where Inks said the department’s data showed there has been the biggest increase in demand. There wasn’t room at the downtown station to house more emergency vehicles.
The fire department responds to all medical emergencies in St. Paul, which is 84 percent of their work, according to Assistant Fire Chief Jeramiah Melquist.
Station 3 officially opened last week and crews have been responding to about 20 calls a day, Inks said.
“The day we put them in service, they became one of the busiest companies in the city,” he added.
The station houses a fire engine and three ambulances: one for basic life-support and two for advanced life-support.
The department’s CARES team, which stands for Community Alternative Response Emergency Services, is a two-person EMT team that responds to nonviolent mental health crises and behavioral emergencies. They worked out of the department’s headquarters and now are located at Station 3.
Other uses since 2010 closure
Station 3, then called Station 1, closed in 2010. It and Station 10 on Randolph Avenue consolidated into a newly built Station 1, situated with the department’s headquarters, at Randolph Avenue and West Seventh Street.
Since then, the old Station 1 became Freedom House Station 51 — home to the EMS Academy, where people receive training to become EMTs. The EMS Academy is still in existence and is held in various locations.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the building was a drop-in shelter for the homeless.
Renovations to the fire station started in 2023 and it was supposed to open in November 2024 with a projected cost of $1.7 million, but the project was on hold for several reasons, including increased construction costs, Melquist said.
‘Home away from home’
Most St. Paul firefighters work 24-hour shifts and they’re encouraged to rest when they can between calls. Old stations, including Station 3 before the renovation, have communal sleeping areas with beds separated by curtains.
The remodeled Station 3 now has small, individual bedrooms and private showers. It’s more comfortable for everyone and better suited to a co-ed workforce as fire departments aim to recruit more women firefighters.
The station is “a home away from home,” said Deputy Fire Chief Jamie Smith.
St. Paul firefighters eat meals together in the stations, which all have kitchens, and they’re expected to work out in their station’s gym for at least an hour during each shift, as time allows. They need “to stay in shape because of the physical demands of the job, and it also has mental benefits,” Smith said.
Tuesday was the second ribbon-cutting for the St. Paul Fire Department this year. They opened a new station in April in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood. It replaced Station 7, which was across the way on Ross Avenue, and dated to 1930.
As with Station 7, changes to Station 3 were made with firefighter safety in mind. Firefighters have a 9 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer than the general U.S. population, the Firefighter Cancer Support Network says of national information.
Both stations now have “hot, warm and cold zones,” with designated places for firefighters to get out of their sooty turn-out gear, special washing machines, and places to store their gear away from the rest of the building.
The original Station 3 is where Hope Breakfast Bar is now, at Leech Street and Grand Avenue. A painting with photos of the faces of the original firefighters from Station 3, which was built in 1872, was digitally restored by Dave Thune, a former St. Paul City Council member who owns the St. Paul Gallery. It will hang inside the renovated Station 3.
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