The Westfield Fire Dept. plans to move into its new fire station headquarters at the southeast corner of 171st Street and Ditch Road starting in August.
The headquarters, which will be known as Station 81, will feature eight bays, a new training tower, physical fitness facilities, living quarters, fleet services and administrative offices. Currently, the department is housed in the city’s public safety building with the city’s police department at 17535 Dartown Road.
Officials broke ground on the new 36,000-square-foot fire department headquarters last summer with an estimated price tag of $12.8 million. WFD Chief Rob Gaylor previously said the department looked into health and safety when designing the new station with amenities that include private sleeping areas and cancer prevention initiatives.
The department started the process of relocating its headquarters in 2019, according to Gaylor.
The facility will also have a new firehouse alerting system in which firefighters will only hear an alarm when it is a call they are involved with. Gaylor previously said the building will feature a tower that will provide additional space to store hoses and opportunities for firefighters to practice elevator shaft maneuvers or rope rescue operations.
When the new station is operational, it will mark the latest location for the city. The other stations are located at 1920 E. 151st St., 17944 Grassy Branch Road and at 17535 Dartown Road, which serves as the Westfield Public Safety building.
The police department will stay at the Westfield Public Safety building when the fire department vacates the space, according to the city. City officials are still looking for land for the police department, said police Maj. Charles Hollowell.
Hollowell spoke during a panel regarding public safety with Gaylor at the State of the City address June 15 at the IMMI Conference Center, where Mayor Andy Cook highlighted various departments and how they have managed to deal with the city’s growth over the years. Westfield was recently named as the sixth-fastest growing city in the United States.
Hollowell told those in attendance that he’d like for the police department to have a “state of the art facility” in the future.
