Fire station conceptual drawings approved

Greenfield Fire Department is one step closer to having a permanent home in a new fire station. The Greenfield City Council approved, during a special meeting Wednesday, Feb. 5, to go to the bid process for building the structure.

The rural fire association and firefighters met recently to look over conceptual drawings JEO Architecture drew up of what a new fire station could look like. The previous station was damaged beyond repair in the May 21, 2024 tornado.

The conceptual drawings reflect a 10,500 square feet fire station— 2,000 square feet larger than the previous station — to be located in the same general area as the previous station.

Because the city acquired land that previously housed Adair County Farm Bureau, the current drawings show the station having east-facing and south-facing doors. The larger fire trucks would face east and be able to pull onto Highway 25 in an emergency. The smaller fire trucks and other equipment would be in bays that face south, similar to how the previous station was laid out.

In one part of the building is a meeting room, offices, a mechanical room and restrooms, as well as storage, lockers and areas for other fire department functions. One proposed amenity the previous didn’t have is a hose tower.

“A section of hose is 50 feet, so a half section is 25 feet. We can hang that hose and [let them dry out with the hose tower],” said Greenfield Fire Chief Curtis Vry. Currently the firefighters lay the hose out on the floor to dry out.

Vry said everybody involved hopes Greenfield can get the “best station it can get” or the “best bang for our buck.” The biggest need for the department is “accessibility.”

“Our biggest thing is we want accessibility and efficiency. We want to be efficient to respond as quickly as possible and accessible for stuff to be able to get in and out easily,” Vry explained.

Gary Erlandson and Tim Foster are the president and secretary/treasurer, respectively, of the rural fire association.

“We’re really working hard to stay within [the dollar amount] we received from insurance,” Foster said. True cost of the station won’t be known until later.

“Everybody’s been great to work with and everyone’s been cooperative,” Erlandson added.

Officials hope the fire station project will go rather quickly. During this time, they’ve watched fire station projects unfold in Griswold and Dexter. That has helped them to be able to project possible timelines and costs of Greenfield’s upcoming project.

For now, Greenfield Fire Department continues to operate from a rented quonset building on the south side of town.

“We’re making do with what we have,” Vry said.