Six months into the construction process, Emporia Fire Chief Brandon Beck says he’s excited for what’s to come once the department’s new headquarters building is finished in the 500 block of Market.
On KVOE’s Talk of Emporia recently, Beck said the new facility will dramatically expand space for equipment, as well as office and living arrangements when compared to the longtime headquarters at White Auditorium. It will also give firefighters and EMTs a much safer environment for staffers to do their work — and not take anything unwanted home with them once their shifts are done. Recent statistics from the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety demonstrate firefighters are at 9-percent higher risk for cancer diagnosis and a 14-percent higher risk for cancer-related deaths than the general US population.
To that end, the new facility has red, yellow and green zones so firefighters and EMTs can decontaminate in a much more conducive environment than the current facility. The new headquarters also expands the current office and living space, changing the long-held approach of an open bunk room and communal shower, to individual rooms and unisex bathrooms and showers attached to those rooms. It will also have about 8,000 square feet of space available for apparatus, including five double-sided bays, as well as a mezzanine section — as opposed to four half-bays with low clearance settings.
Construction has been a long time coming, with conversations underway to some degree for close to a decade. Beck says firefighters provided valuable input throughout the design stage, and the project’s external partners, Tessere and Crossland, were more than willing to help the department attains its goals.
Plans for the Fire Department’s current space on the south side of White Auditorium have not been announced. Meanwhile, Emporia Fire is discussing the ongoing space needs at Station 2 at 15th and Industrial — and the department is leaning towards renovating and expanding that space. Plans are under development.
