By Jeff Bahr
The Grand Island Independent
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — The new Fire Station No. 3 won’t just help keep the residents of Grand Island safe. It will also be good for the health of those working inside the station.
Station No. 3, which had its dedication Thursday, has a lot of “features that really protect the health and well-being of firefighters,” Fire Chief Cory Schmidt said.
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Dividing the station into three zones should “keep our living area free of any sort of carcinogens or other contaminants,” Schmidt said during Thursday’s ceremony.
The building includes a decontamination room. There, firefighters are able to remove substances from their skin and uniforms.
“Our firefighters go into a lot of situations that normal people don’t see. This gives them the ability to clean up without dragging those things into the living area,” Schmidt said.
The new station has the same address as the old one — 2310 S. Webb Road. The site of the old station is now the parking lot.
The old Fire Station 3, built in 1987, covered 4,000 square feet; the new one is about 10,000 square feet.
“At the old fire station, we had the fire station and an outbuilding,” Schmidt said. Some specialized equipment was kept in “basically an oversized shed out back, and that wasn’t ideal for response. It takes a while to go get stuff out of a shed and get on the road to help whoever’s in need.”
The new building allows the station to put all of its equipment under one roof.
The structure has enough space to house a three-person engine company as well as an ambulance crew of two.
That wasn’t possible in the old building. “We had room for three people.” Schmidt said.
The station serves the southwest part of town, which is growing quickly. The area is seeing a lot more ambulance calls.
To have the ability to house an ambulance “is a big, big benefit for Grand Island,” Schmidt said.
The new station is also efficient, Schmidt said.
“There’s a lot of extra insulation in the building. It’s very cost-effective to heat and cool.”
LED lighting and many automatic light switches are “really designed to save taxpayer money,” Schmidt said.
That doesn’t sound too exciting, but over a 50-year period, those monthly savings add up “to thousands and thousands of dollars,” Schmidt said.
Unlike the old building, the new station has a sprinkler system.
“Our equipment is very, very expensive,” Schmidt said.
It sounds odd, but fires occur in fire stations more than most people think.
When crews are cooking their meals and a call comes in, “it’d be very easy not to turn that stove off,” Schmidt said.
“I think what this station says to our firefighters is we value your health, and we’re going to prioritize those types of things in all that we do,” Schmidt said.
“Over nearly four decades, our city has grown, firefighting equipment has changed, and our understanding of the demands placed on firefighters has advanced considerably. It was time for this station to advance with them,” said Ryan O’Neill, president of the Grand Island City Council.
O’Neill pointed out that the new building has individual sleeping rooms, improved work and fitness areas and space for crews to rest, recover and remain ready between calls.
“Our firefighters face real risks while protecting others,” O’Neill said. “They are there for us on some of our most difficult days, and they deserve to know that our community stands behind them every day.”
O’Neill said the dedication carried special meaning “following the passing of fellow council member Mike Paulick,” who died Monday.
“Mike was involved in the planning of this station and cared deeply about seeing important city projects completed properly,” O’Neill said. “After 30 years as a city employee and serving on the City Council since 2012, Mike understood that public service is ultimately about leaving your community stronger than you found it. This station is part of that legacy.”
Schmidt also praised Paulick.
In February of 2023, Mayor Roger Steele and Paulick, who was council president at the time, took a tour of old Fire Station 3.
“And after walking through the station, both men agreed that something had to be done — that the station was simply obsolete. It didn’t have the adequate size you needed. Some of the features of the modern fire station were nonexistent,” Schmidt said.
As a result of the tour, Steele and Paulick scheduled a City Council study session.
Because of the tour and the study session, leaders were “left with a direction and an ability to start planning for a new fire station. So without Mayor Steele and councilman Mike Paulick’s tour of the old fire station, I’m quite sure we would not be standing here today,” Schmidt said.
In building the new station, Schmidt said, the goals were to better serve the public, improve working conditions and to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars. All of those goals were met, Schmidt said.
The station was a $5.5 million project. The city came in $200,00 under budget, Schmidt said.
Another speaker, City Administrator Patrick Brown, said the 2018 sales tax made the new fire station possible without going into debt.
Also speaking was architect Ray Holliday of BRE Architects, who said the station is designed to last 75 years.
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