Four new fire stations underway across the city
Lincoln is growing fast.
More people, means more fires and emergencies.
Which places tougher demands on Lincoln Fire and Rescue.
“There’s a lot of growth and we’re far away from that growth, and when an emergency happens we want to get there quicker,” Assistant Chief Patrick Borer said.
This year they’re working on catching up.
In Air Park, they opened the first new station in more than 20 years and there’s four more coming.
One of those is a new Station 12 at 84 and Pioneers. It’s replacing an outdated station at 84th and South.
“It has a very small garage, the fire engines barely fit, it just doesn’t meet the standards we expect out of stations today,” Borer said.
But Borer said this new building is setting the standards.
It has a garage that’ll fit vehicles that typically have to stay outside.
It has individual bedrooms and single–person bathrooms.
It’s all one floor so firefighters and paramedics get to the vehicles faster.
The building will have decontamination zones and other precautions to address the high cancer rates among firefighters.
It has outdoor space, and natural light, to help address high suicide rates.
“It’s satisfying to know they’ll work in a facility that’s safe and more conducive to response times,” Borer said.
This is just a beginning.
“We’re going to have five new facilities that’ll be almost 1/3 of our total number, we’re hiring new people, just the growth we’re experiencing is exciting,” Borer said.
This station will open in the fall.
An updated station 10 will open near 24th and Superior in July.
After that, two brand new stations, one at 98th and O and another at 66th and Pine Lake will open.
