SUAMICO, WI (WLUK-WLUK) – The Suamico Fire Department cut the ribbon on its new fire station on Sunday.
The ceremony was private, for firefighters, families, and village staff.
The new building replaces the old building right down Riverside Drive, which is about 60 years old.
The new station has several upgrades, such as a decontamination hallway for firefighters to use to clean themselves after responding to fires.
“Studies have shown there’s an increased risk of cancer in firefighters, and so, that’s one of the issues I strongly believe in, and we want to make sure that nothing comes back to the family when they respond to the fire station,” says Suamico fire chief Joe Bertler.
It’s also much larger than the old building. The new one is about 23,000 square feet, compared to the old one, which was about 5,000 square feet.
“We had fire trucks basically pulling out next to firefighters getting dressed, I mean, there was probably only a foot or two to get dressed,” Bertler says about the space in the old station. “Thankfully, nothing happened, but it could have been an accident waiting to happen.”
The fire department will begin using the new building on Monday. It cost about $6 million to build and took just under a year to build.
The fire department plans to have a public open house sometime in either June or July.
