JENKS, Okla. — Firefighters in Jenks will soon have more room and hopefully, a quicker response time.
The city broke ground on a new state-of-the-art fire station on June 28.
The city currently boasts 21 firefighters and recently received a grant to hire 6 more after its current academy.
Right now, first responders are having to double up at the old station on Main.
Billy McCawley is a proud member of the Jenks Fire Department.
“It’s pretty cramped. There’s usually about 6 of us in the station at all times, and it gets a little cramped if we have volunteers come in and there’s not room left to sleep,” said McCawley.
During a special groundbreaking on Friday, the city showcased renderings of the new station.
It should be complete within a year and cost roughly $5 million to build.
The new facility will be two stories high, 10,000 square feet and host three large bays.
The second floor will be a living space for firefighters and contain bedrooms, a locker room, a kitchen and an office.
The facility will also have cancer-preventing equipment.
One of the special features of the new station will be a special boot-washing station.
This will allow firefighters to rinse off their boots and carcinogens they might pick up out on the scene of a fire.
McCawley said the city of Jenks does a great job giving them good equipment, but this new feature will be a game-changer.
“Clean air equipment is a big deal because we deal a lot with carcinogens in our gear and we have to make sure that’s cleaned out because we live with our gear 24 hours at a time,” said McCawley.
Not only will the firefighters feel safer, but the hope is that city residents will too.
“This means that we get to continue to be the number one safest city in the state of Oklahoma because we will have that fast response time that every family wants when you have an emergency situation happen in your home,” said Heather Turner, Jenks Chamber President.
The city said it is anticipating an increase in emergency calls with more and more residents moving to Jenks along with more visitors.
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