Batavia firemen show off new facilities

Batavia firefighters say they now have the space they need to be their best.

The city's two fire stations were demolished and rebuilt over the past year, and firefighters eagerly showed off their expanded, upgraded digs during an open house Sunday.

Each station boasts larger apparatus floors for fire engines, ambulances and other emergency vehicles but, perhaps just as importantly, better facilities for firefighters to live, work and conduct training programs.

"We want people to know how badly we needed the space," said Battalion Chief Randy Banker as he led a tour through the West Station.

The $11.2 million project for the two stations, at 800 E. Wilson St. and 1400 Main Street, is designed to serve the community for the next 50 years.

Firefighters said the new facilities allow them to work, eat, sleep and respond to emergencies better than before.

"It's better because we're not on top of each other," said Lt. Ralph Strange. "We can spread out and do our work."

One of the most significant changes is that, rather than an open bunk room for firefighters, they each have a private room with a bed and a desk. Each station has 10 private bunk rooms.

In an open environment, firefighters tend to lose sleep because of snoring, get sick because of germs being passed around, and don't have a private place to study, Banker said.

Another major improvement is the training room located within each station, which officials are hoping to soon connect with a video-conferencing system.

Each station also houses its own special functions. East Station continues to serve as the department headquarters, with administrative offices. West Station houses the city's Emergency Services and Disaster Agency, and the city's Emergency Operations Center, where all of the city's department heads can be in one place to coordinate response to a major disaster.

The disaster agency, which tracks tornadoes and other storms, has offices in the basement of the new West Station, and equipment in a new apparatus bay.

"There's more space here than I think we've ever had," said Capt. Joe Essling, pointing to eight vehicles ranging including trucks and water crafts on trailers.

A few feet off the apparatus floor at the East Station, firefighter-paramedic Scott Stephens showed visitors the new gear room, with open stalls for each of the firefighters' coats, boots and helmets at the ready.

Asked about the new gear room's improvement over the previous one, Stephens replied: "We never had a gear room before."