Naperville celebrates new fire station
As a father, Mark Kolkman knows the value of having emergency personnel nearby.
He was among the dozens of Naperville residents and officials who gathered Tuesday to celebrate the opening of the city's 10th fire station.
"It puts my mind at ease knowing they have a heightened sense of commitment toward their response time," Kolkman said as his son Andrew, 4, eyed a shiny red fire truck.
Naperville officials touted the new station's environmentally friendly design and price tag that came in under budget.
The station at 3201 95th St. is a 9,885-square-foot building with three apparatus bays, living quarters, a hose tower and turn-out gear storage room.
The station will serve the city's southwest side, an area bordered by 83rd Street to the north, Book Road to the east, the city's boundary to the west and electrical lines between 95th and 103rd streets to the south. Its coverage area includes the White Eagle, Carillon Club, Tall Grass and Aero Estates neighborhoods.
"In a city with a geographical size (like) Naperville, the only way to ensure an effective response time is to place resources in a position to accomplish goals and staffing," Chief Mark Puknaitis said.
Citywide, he expects the fire department to handle 12,000 calls this year. Its goal is to respond to 90 percent of those calls within six minutes. It has been hitting the six-minute mark about 83.2 percent of the time, but since the new station began operating on Jan. 31, that figure has increased to 89.3 percent.
"I can't believe an improvement like that would have been possible without this key station," City Manager Doug Krieger said.
He joked about the station being in the "deep south" of Naperville and said he was glad to learn firefighters there were wearing shoes and hadn't made any appearances on "Jerry Springer."
He and others emphasized that the station had come in under budget with a price tag of $2.3 million - about $100,000 less than originally anticipated.
The city received several grants for the project, including a $30,000 Energy Efficiency Block Grant to install LED lights and $37,059 from Illinois Clean Energy Foundation to fund a geothermal heating and cooling system. Naperville also has applied for silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for the station.
"Not only is the city of Naperville looking out for your safety but the safety of the environment as well," Mayor George Pradel said while sporting a firefighter's helmet.
Naper Settlement representatives also were on hand to show off the museum's fire department artifacts, including record books from the 1870s as well as old pictures, badges and equipment. The settlement hopes to build a replica of the city's first station and is accepting additional artifacts for its collection.