New Fire Station Under Construction In Jerome Township
New 11,000-square foot facility will provide more room to meet fire department’s current and future needs
In early January of this year, construction crews began clearing the parcel of land located at 680 West Saginaw Road in Jerome Township to make way for a brand new 11,000-square-foot fire station.
The new site is less than half a mile from the fire department’s current main fire station, which is located along Irish Street and was built in 1974. This fire station has served the department for more than 45 years, but the municipality has recognized the need for a larger, more efficient station to better serve the needs of the community.
“The current station we have is in need of costly repairs,” Jerry Cole, a firefighter for the Jerome Township Volunteer Fire Department, said. “Plus, so much has changed in the fire service since 1974. Our biggest engine was 25 feet long then. Today, our biggest engine is 43 feet long. We’ve just outgrown the building.”
The department’s existing fire station has no form of vehicle exhaust ventilation and does not have any facilities to decontaminate the firefighters’ turn-out gear, both of which are safety concerns for the firefighters. The station also lacks dedicated showering facilities for women, it only has a small bathroom.
Additionally, the firefighters have no room inside the current station to perform truck checks or replace hoses and equipment on trucks after an emergency run. All those tasks must be completed outside the facility regardless of the time of day or weather, which can present unsafe working conditions, Cole said.
Aerial view of new site.
Jerome Township encompasses 35.6-square-miles in Midland County near Sanford Lake and is home to more than 4,700 people. On any given day, the 21-member volunteer fire department can respond to fire or rescue emergencies that involve structure fires, medical emergencies, vehicle extractions, wellness checks, or mutual aid calls to 10 surrounding communities.
In 2018, the department ran 488 fire and rescue calls throughout the year. In 2019, that number increased to 525 calls, and Cole said the department expects to see the number of calls continue to increase in the future.
“We want to build a replacement for our current fire station that our entire community can be proud of,” Cole said. “We want it to meet our current and future needs of the department and the Township in the most cost-effective manner.”
Original/existing fire station.
New site cleared and ready for construction.
In 2017 Spicer Group was hired by the Township to design the new fire station for the department. The parcel of land had already been purchased by the Township years ago in anticipation of this project.
Spicer Group’s team of architects went through the department’s program of needs and their wish list before developing the schematic design and plans for the new station.
“The new design allows the firefighters to drive around the building and pull thru into the apparatus bays, where before they had to back everything in. They are now also able to stack equipment in the bays, two-pieces-of-equipment deep. There are now four apparatus bays, instead of three.” Dave Marr, the Project Manager for Spicer Group, said.
The new building will have a generator that will maintain the whole building during a power outage, decontamination areas, dedicated storage areas for air tanks and masks, hose dryers and hose storage areas, a men’s locker room, a women’s locker room, a dispatch room, offices, and a meeting room that is double the size of their previous meeting area.
The building also has radiant floor heating in the apparatus bays to allow snow and ice to easily melt off trucks and equipment.
“The doors of the apparatus bays will also have a lot of glass so when you drive by, you can look in and see the firetrucks,” Marr said. “It will also bring daylight into the space.”
David Boersma, AIA, a Senior Project Architect with Spicer Group, said the team also designed screening for the building around the edges of the property to help keep noise and light from going into the homes of the surrounding residents. Low-profile sight lighting was also added to minimize light pollution on the property.
Stormwater, septic system, and drinking water designs were also developed for the property by Spicer.
Three Rivers Corporation, a construction company based in Midland, is the general contractor on the project. Boersma said that building construction is scheduled to begin once the weather clears up.
“We have started putting together a strategy for relocating to the new station, planning everything from how we move the vehicles and equipment over, right down to what goes with us and what goes in the dumpster,” Cole said. “Working with Spicer Group has been a very positive experience. The guidance they have offered has been very important and we are very excited to see construction begin on our new station.”
Final 3D rendering of new fire station.