Fort Madison residents will have the opportunity to decide if the Fort Madison Fire Department will be able to borrow millions to help build a new fire station on Election Day this November.
During the Fort Madison City Council meeting Tuesday night, Fire Chief Joey Herren and several other firefighters informed the council of their plan to put a measure on the ballot that, if passed, will allow the City of Fort Madison to borrow up to (but no more than) $12 million for the construction, furnishing, and equipping of a new fire station and emergency services building.
During his part of the presentation, Herren noted that the city is working with the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission to see what state and federal grant options might be available to help pay for the project.
But Herren also noted that, to apply for those grants, the city needs permission from the voters to take out bond loans to help pay for whatever portion of the project grant money cannot cover.
“We’re asking for the citizens to give us permission to move forward with it, and to start the grant process and gather up as much money as we can to get this paid for while not applying it to the mill levy for the citizen taxes,” Herren said. “We want to keep it from (costing a full $12 million). If we can get enough grants to get it down to $6 million, then that mill levy goes smaller.”
The proposed new station will be located at 2200 Avenue L, the current site of the public works buildings, and will be able to house two engines, a ladder truck, a mini pumper, a rescue boat, a utility truck, an inspector vehicle, and a hazardous materials trailer.
The design for the new fire station is approximately 2600 square feet, with updated living, training, and decontamination spaces, a workout area, apparatus bay with space for 12 vehicles, a hose drying tower, gear cleaning and drying spaces, and additional storage space. The new space may also be used in the future as an ambulance service.
Should the bond pass, with the current property tax rollback rate, a residential property valued at $100,000 would have to pay an additional $114 a year in taxes to help pay for the $12 million bond, according to data from the fire department.
But Herren and the other firefighters who attended the meeting made their case as to why the new fire station would be a good investment for Fort Madison residents.
Built in 1959, the current station was initially intended to be a secondary station, but today that facility is the department’s only station.
One firefighter that spoke to the council noted that the department has expanded its duties over the years.
In the 1970s, the department was simply working on fire extinguishment and suppression. Today, the fire department is also responsible for technical rescues, river and ice rescues, hazard control, EMS services, vehicle extractions, building inspections, and educating the community on fire prevention.
“This list continues to grow every year,” he said, adding that vacated property inspections is one additional responsibility the fire department took on this past year. “This list is never going to stop growing, and we just continue to have more tools to do all these jobs.”
And within the last decade, the fire department has seen a 30% increase in call volumes.
He also noted that the current station has no more room for additional storage of gear, equipment or vehicles, which, in turn, can require additional time to get whatever equipment or gear that might be needed for an emergency call and has an impact on response time.
“The current station is at its absolute maximum for apparatus storage,” he said. “A fire engine that was just ordered had to be specially designed to be able to fit inside the current station.
“There’s also no possible way to expand our services and run an ambulance out of the current fire station. An ambulance has to be in a climate-controlled environment all the time. So (if we were to) an ambulance, we would have to shove a firetruck outside. In the wintertime, that’s not possible in Iowa. It’ll freeze. And that’s one part that (prevented us from getting an ambulance).”
Health concerns are another factor, with firefighters being 100% more likely to get certain cancers and at a higher rate than the general public. Firefighters are also spending 30% of their lives at the station, exposing them to toxins during that time.
Another firefighter noted that the research indicates that the job itself, firefighter gear, and fire stations are the three main areas linked to the higher cancer rates.
With this data in mind, the new proposed firehouse will be equipped with a state-of-the-art decontamination site. Currently, crews wash and hang their gear in an apparatus bay at the station that can collect exhaust fumes while hanging.
“We come back from a fire, all that gear is off-gassing all those bad carcinogens and it’s where we live and work,” one firefighter told the council during his part of the presentation. “It’s also collecting diesel exhaust as it sits there.
“The station is where we work and live. We work 24 hours on, 48 hours off. So, we spend a third of our life at that station. We have living areas that are exposed to diesel exhaust, we have gear exposed to diesel exhaust, and we are exposed to off-gassing gear...
“Right now, after a fire, we try to wash our gear. We try to do the best with that. But then that gear hangs up and dries and goes right back on a hook into the apparatus bay and just gets more diesel exhaust on it.”
To fix this problem, the proposed new fire station will have better exhaust systems, separate living areas, and improved gear storage, with a new decontamination area that will be fully vented and separate from staff.
“Really, the only way to mitigate the cancer risk is with a new station,” he added. “We do the best we can right now, but the best ain’t cuttin’ it,” he added.
Herren said construction on the new station won’t begin for a couple years but said securing the ability to bond for the costs is crucial to get the project moving.
“That’s what we’re trying to do: get the ‘YES’ vote to start working on this, start applying (for grants) and get this done,” Herren said. “I won’t be here, but these guys can finish it down the road.”
Educating Voters
To help educate the public on the proposal, community open houses will be held at the current fire station, located at 2335 Avenue L, at the following times/days:
- 5-7 p.m. June 12
- 12-4 p.m. Aug. 24
- 5-7 p.m. Oct. 17
And a special “Coffee with a Firefighter” event will be held from 9-11 a.m. Oct. 26 at Swed & Co., located on the corner of 7th and Avenue G.
Those wishing to vote early can start on Oct. 16 at their designated polling place.
Absentee voters can need to request an absentee ballot from the Lee County Auditor by Oct. 16. Once a request has been submitted, the auditor will mail you a ballot. Completed ballots must be received by the Auditor by Nov. 5.
Nov. 5 is also Election Day. Polls will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m.
Anyone seeking to learn more about the new fire station proposal is asked to contact Fire Chief Joey Herren at (319) 372-7700 ext. 215.
