In 2018, the voters of Longmont approved a municipal bond that allowed the city of Longmont to acquire property and build new facilities, which cost roughly $9 million. One of the two fire stations opened on Wednesday.
Fire Station 2 is located at 2212 17th Ave. The station was built after the city negotiated to buy two residential lots.
The new station replaces the station located at Mountain View Avenue and Hover Street, which was built in 1976. When the Mountain View station was built, an estimated 20,000 people were living in Longmont at the time, said Dan Higgins, fire chief for the city of Longmont.
The new facility is equipped with five bays with 14-foot bay doors, a stark contrast to the 10-foot bay doors at the former facility. The bay lengths are also longer which accommodates the fire engines better, according to Higgins. The new station has more room for storage which is important as the fire department’s equipment needs grow.
The new facility will also house the city’s wildland apparatus, which is primarily used to fight small brush fires, Higgens said. It will also house an ambulance crew in the future.
“It’s incredible for us because we have outgrown that space and as you can imagine a building that was used for over 50 years, 24/7, it starts to feel its age a little bit. This will be a much nicer facility, more room, more up-to-date and being on 17th Avenue actually increases our access for quicker response to some areas,” Higgins said.
Station 6 is in its final stages and the city hopes to be able to move firefighters into the facility in the upcoming weeks.
