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1. Why Does the City Need a New Fire Station?

The City hired a third-party consultant to complete a study on the need for a new fire station and if determined one was needed, where that station might be located. The final report did show that an additional fire station was needed to improve response time to the southern part of the City and also assist with the expected development growth in the Northwest Area.

2. Does a New Fire Station Mean the Closure of Another Station?

No, neither of the two present fire stations are planned to close with the opening of this station. Firefighters will continue to live near and respond out of those stations.

3. What Will be Included in the Fire Station?

This fire station was designed to include apparatus bays for the fire trucks, a training room, some administrative offices, workout/locker rooms, dormitories, kitchen, day room, work rooms, dispatch area, and many built-in training props allowing the firefighters to stay in the city to get their required training.

• When firefighters have to travel outside the city to receive training, that takes valuable resources away from the city and costs more money because of the distance traveling to and from these other locations.
  
  

4. Will Firefighters Be Present at the Station 24/7?

Yes. Our 24/7 Duty Crew that is presently based out of Fire Station 1 will be moved to the new Station 2. In addition, for calls requiring more than the Duty Crew and during training hours, there will be firefighters coming and going. 

Our IGH Police Officers will also be utilizing this station’s workout and training space as desired.

5. How Much Will This Cost Taxpayers?

The preliminary figure for the new fire station has been estimated at $10.5 million. This is not only for construction costs of the building, but also includes the cost of purchasing the land and grading the site, all interior completion, furniture and equipment, as well as boring lines for water, sewer and fiber optic underneath Highway 52 from the old Rainbow site to the property.

6. Will the New Fire Station Affect My Fire Insurance Rating or How Much I Pay for Insurance?

Those who will see the biggest change in insurance ratings and potential costs savings are located in the southeast part of the City. Presently, many insurance companies rely on one main factor: whether that building they are insuring is located within 5 road miles of a fire station. Most insurance companies recognize neighboring fire stations from Rosemount and Eagan to count within that required 5 road miles, if they take the time to investigate our agreement with those fire departments.  

• There are many commercial and residential structures in the southeast part of the City that are well beyond 5 road miles of any fire station.
• If anyone has specific questions about insurance ratings for their property, they can contact the fire chief at 651-455-5082.

7. How Did the City Select the Fire Station's Location?

• That third-party study that looked at the need for a fire station also included a station location study that identified 4 parcels of land in a target area. That target area needed to show quicker response times to the southern portion of the city, access to the northwest area and also had to make sure as many businesses and residents as possible would fall within 5 road miles to help improve their insurance ratings.  
• While a target area was selected, this specific location proved best because of its immediate access to Highways 52/55, Concord Blvd, and Barnes Avenue, which will allow crews to quickly get to all parts of the City.
• The location was also based on demographics, density and travel distance for recruitment of present and future non-career Firefighters.
  
  

8. With this New Fire Station will you Increase the Number of your Fire Trucks?

• Our present compliment of large fire trucks will be divided out among all three stations. For the new station, a staff SUV and pick-up style Brush Truck are the only vehicle that need to be purchased specifically for this new station.
• Over the next year, there are two older trucks that are due/overdue for replacement, so there will potentially be new trucks purchased for the city, but they were planned for replacement over 20 years ago, not for this new station.
  
  

9. Will the New Fire Station have an In-House Ambulance Service?

Our ambulance service in IGH is provided by Health East Medical Transportation, a private ambulance provider. Space at Station 3 on Upper 55th is provided for the ambulance and staff now and will continue to be run out of that station. There will be no ambulance permanently staged at the new station.

10. Can We Tour the New Fire Station?

Once the station is completed, we will be offering several Open Houses to give the public a close-up look. In addition, this will be the fire station that hosting public education and outreach activities going forward, including the annual Fire Prevention Week Open House that is held every October. Until the building is competed and open for operation, we ask the public to stay off the site for their own safety during construction.