By Bridget Byrne
The Capital
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — Anne Arundel County’s new “state-of-the-art” Fire Station 6 is now in service in Crownsville, the department announced Friday in a news release.
The 22,316-square-foot facility cost roughly $15 million to build. The station replaced the Herald Harbor Volunteer Fire Department, which officially closed operations Friday afternoon when Station 6 took its first call. The Herald Harbor volunteers will continue working and are moving into Station 6 with the career firefighters.
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“It’s pretty much the same crew that was in the old station. However, the old station was kind of tucked up in Herald Harbor,” Capt. Jenny Macallair, Anne Arundel County Fire Department public information officer, said. “This new station, being on Generals Highway and Sunrise Beach Road, just allows us to get to so many more places in the county faster.”
Macallair said the new building is more optimally located compared with the old, outdated building on Hall Road. The just-opened facility sits at the corner of Sunrise Beach Road and Generals Highway. It is closer to major highways, such as Interstate 97 and Maryland Route 32, which will mean faster response times.
The new station houses a fire engine, tanker, medic unit, special unit, safety officer, shift commander and fire investigators. The large bays will hold the medical ambulance bus, which can be deployed for any mass-casualty event and another ambulance that can be placed in service by the volunteers to upstaff the current medic unit.
The station also features cancer-reduction measures. More than 60% of firefighter line-of-duty deaths are attributed to occupational cancer, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The new station includes on-site gear washers, decontamination areas, exhaust filters and boundaries between the living quarters and the work area.
Capt. Jen Robertson, who leads the new station, was an integral part of the design process to ensure the space is comfortable and optimal for first responders. Firefighters work 24-hour shifts, so the station also features bunks and a kitchen. Firefighters on shift typically all chip in for groceries and cook together while awaiting calls, Macallair said. The new station also has on-site training opportunities and a fitness center.
“It truly becomes like a home away from home when you are sleeping and eating and doing all the things that you would do in 24 hours at your station with your crew,” Macallair said. “It becomes kind of like an extension of your family.”
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