Columbus is opening a state-of-the-art fire station near the city’s border with New Albany as reports of aging city fire equipment and a lack of firefighters circulate on social media.
The station at 5785 Central College Road cost nearly $24 million to design and build. Posting firefighters there will stretch the staffing of the Division of Fire as the city seeks to get fire and police overtime under control and within budget. At the opening ceremony on June 16, Interim Fire Chief David Baugh said the new station is necessary to serve a growing population and the Division can absorb the overtime.
Before the ceremonially uncoupling of two fire hoses, the firefighter version of a ribbon cutting, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther acknowledged the public discussion around investment in the Division of Fire.
“Some of that conversation is highlighting real challenges,” Ginther said. “We have aging facilities. We have (fire) apparatus that are taking years, not months, to arrive because of manufacturing timelines and we have firefighters who rightly expect safe stations, reliable equipment and the support they need to do their jobs.”
Ginther said he wants residents and firefighters to know that the city is paying attention and investing in fire equipment and staff but said the work is not finished.
“This station represents our commitment not just to this neighborhood, but to every firefighter who serves here and every resident who depends on it,” Ginther said.
Columbus City Councilmember Emmanuel Remy told The Dispatch after the ceremony that Ginther’s administration didn’t budget appropriately this year for police and fire overtime.
“They had aspirational numbers that they weren’t going to hit,” Remy said. “But let’s be real, with the number of employees that we have servicing this growing population, we are going to have overtime and this is one of the places that needs to be serviced.”
Remy said there are 157,000 residents within a five-mile radius of the new station, and it’s important to have fast emergency response.
The new 30,000-square-foot fire station includes advancements like technology that draws diesel fumes out of the fire station and folding garage doors that open faster and require less maintenance than the traditional rolling door. The station is also the first in the city to include training facilities so firefighters can conduct search and rescue and other job-related training.
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus opens new fire station amid staffing, aging equipment concerns
Reporting by Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
