Steve Rundio
La Crosse Tribune, Wis.
(TNS)
Jul. 26—Jeff Schott recalls when the La Crosse Fire Department gave two city council members a tour of the former Fire Station 4.
“I don’t think we had to do much of a sell job for the new station,” Schott said.
Seven years after that tour, the sale is complete. The fire department invited members of the community Thursday to tour its new station/public safety facility on Gillette Street. The $8 million building replaces a structure built in 1940.
The old station had multiple limitations, including cramped and inadequate living quarters for firefighters who work 48-hour shifts. The limited space also made it awkward for fire trucks to depart and return. The new station will increase the number of trucks on site from two to four.
In addition to firefighting facilities, the building has a community room and will house the city’s North Side police station. Schott, the fire department chief, likes the idea of police and firefighters sharing the same building.
“They have opportunities to work together and train together and actually know each (other) as human beings instead of being from two different safety units,” he said.
The new building can house up to eight firefighters per shift, compared with four in the old building. The new station also has training facilities the old building lacked.
“We can train in here every day of the year,” Schott said.
One thing the new building won’t sacrifice is its prime location. It was built next door to the old station, which Schott said fits in with the geography of La Crosse.
“The one advantage of the old station was its very strategic location to serve the greater North Side,” Schott said. “We try to get everywhere about 80% of the time in four minutes. That allows us to do that anywhere on the North Side.”
The new station will maintain the department’s fire and rescue boats, which can be quickly dispatched to the busy Clinton Street boat landing. The station is one of four located in the city. The station also serves the town of Medary, which Schott said “is straight up Gillette Street right over to (Highway) B.”
It’s the second new fire station the city has opened in two years. Last summer, the city dedicated the new Fire Station 2 on La Crosse Street.
“We’re living in rare air here, folks,” La Crosse mayor Mitch Reynolds said. “It’s amazing when a community shows this much commitment to public safety as this community has in the last several years.”
The old station remains standing, and the city is has listed it for sale.
La Crosse Tribune reporter Steve Rundio can be reached at steve.rundio@lee.net.
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