New fire station

Odessa's Central Fire Station firefighters have a new home away from home.

Construction on the new $3.7 million station and fire department headquarters at 1100 W. Second St. is just about complete, and firefighters and administrators have been transferring gear this week.

"Everybody's trying to get moved in and settled," Fire Marshal Detra White said.

An occupancy permit was issued late last week, and the trucks and radios were moved Monday. The approximately 23,000 square-foot facility combines the Central Fire Station with the administrative offices that were previously housed in the Municipal Plaza.

"This will get everybody back in the same facility and keeps us from being disconnected. I think it'll improve just the efficiency of the organization as a whole," Assistant Fire Chief Tanner Drake said.

Drake said the new facility is a vast improvement over the old 20,000 square-foot Central Fire Station at 210 N. Lincoln Ave. that was built in 1949. It has several new features built in to make the lives of the administrators and firefighters easier.

On the administrative wing, offices surround a centralized copy room that can be accessed from two sides. A large conference room that will have audio and visual equipment installed will allow for classroom training of crews from all stations. A divider can split the room in two giving more flexibility. A large ramp outside will allow trucks from other stations to park on the property rather than along the street.

"This will make it to where we can do more stuff in house," Drake said.

On the station side, the five drive-through truck bays are larger than the old ones, which only had about two inches of clearance on either side and on top of some of the trucks, Drake said.

The bay also incorporates a system to allow firefighters to power the station doors off a firetruck generator in the event of power failure.

"Way back when, anytime a big storm would come into town, we'd move all the trucks out of the bay just so they wouldn't get stuck inside," Drake said.

The building will allow the department to move an aerial ladder truck from the Murphy Street station that was too big to fit in the old station. It will also house the battalion chief vehicle, an ambulance, an engine and other reserve equipment.

The kitchen is also a lot bigger than the old station with an island, gas range and three storage lockers that house a pantry and refrigerator. The lockers allow the three shifts of seven firefighters to secure their food.

But not all of the old is gone.

The long dining table from the old Central Fire Station fits in the new kitchen, and a fire pole from the old facility was installed in one of the bays of the new single story station for the benefit of children who often come for tours.

"We really didn't want to lose that. It won't be as much of an element of surprise, because they will see them walk up. That was built in to try to preserve a little bit of the history," Drake said.

A big plus for firefighters will be privacy.

"Now all of our stations are individualized bedrooms," Drake said.

The 10 dorms have three lockers, a built-in table and cable hooks ups for the TVs firefighters provide themselves. And if a firefighter doesn't want to watch TV in their room alone, he or she can take advantage of the lounge with a big flat-screen TV and 10 recliners.

Once the remaining construction work outside is complete in a week or two and the landscaping is finished, the department will have an open house for the community and neighborhood residents, Drake said.

"The taxpayers paid a lot of money for this, so we'd like it to be looking nice for them," Drake said.

Despite some glitches with the new phone system and the hustle and bustle of moving and unpacking, White said reviews of the new building were positive.

"Love it; absolutely love it," White said.

But even with some work remaining, the station is a welcome boost to crews.

"It's nice it really is. These guys are sitting on cloud nine," Drake said.