‘A turning point’: Fox River fire district to break ground on new station

The Fox River & Countryside Fire Rescue District will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for its new Fire Station No. 3 at 37W550 Bolcum Road in St. Charles Township.

The public is welcome to the at 4:30 p.m. ceremony, which celebrates a successful $13 million bond issue in 2022 that supported construction of the third station.

Voters had rejected six previous referendums.

Fire board President Jason Parthun said the new station is as close to being centrally located as possible.

“This will help our other stations cover their areas and what I consider a gap of coverage in our response area,” Parthun said.

“Our district is shaped like a polygon, it’s a rectangle that is wider than it is tall. We have stuff that goes far out to Wayne, all the way to bordering the Elburn and Countryside District and out near Wasco, north to the Silver Glen area and south all the way to Red Haw,” he added. “It’s a pretty significant area that we’re covering and it was a pretty noticeable gap in the center.”

The district covers more than 30,000 residents over 38 square miles, providing fire suppression, fire prevention and emergency medical services in Kane and DuPage counties. It primarily serves unincorporated areas of St. Charles and Campton townships and the villages of Campton Hills and Wayne.

Getting voter support for the referendum was “a turning point for the district,” Parthun said.

“We were able to retire some old debt,” he added. “We were able to order some new vehicles and things like that, to help with our current stuff and for the new station.”

The district, which was established in 2011, has owned the 6.9-acre vacant site on Bolcum Road since 2013 in preparation for the additional fire station.

Lamp Incorporated is the general contractor for the $5.9 million station, which will be 10,000 square feet, Parthun said. The new station is expected to be completed by the spring or summer of 2025.