JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There is a newly built fire station on Jacksonville’s Westside.
JFRD officially opened Fire Station 22 on Lenox Avenue Wednesday morning, replacing the previous building that housed JFRD personnel in the area.
Chief Keith Powers said the move was long overdue and that the new location should significantly improve response times for emergencies.
“With it being a mile and a half further north in this area, it is going to reduce those response times by minutes, which in our business, minutes equal lives,” Powers said after a ribbon-cutting ceremony. “It is one of the busiest fire stations in the city. It runs more than 20 runs every day. [The firefighters] fight to be here. They want to be here. They love serving the community. They did not complain [about working at the old station], but it was the right thing to do for this community.”
The response time could now be anywhere between a minute to two minutes, depending on the call.
Dalton Brinson, the captain of Station 22, said the differences between the two locations will be night and day.
“We have the greatest equipment, technology, fast response times,” said Brinson, who has 17 years of experience with JFRD and six at Station 22. “More stations around here. We will have more personnel on a scene and quicker times. It will be safer for everybody.”
One of the major differences is space at the new station.
The old location on Jammes Road was built nearly 60 years ago.
“It was built for people in the community that volunteered to drive to the fire station, get the piece of apparatus and go on the run,” Powers said about the old building. “It was not built to live in. They have been living in it since then, cramped up, very close and very tight quarters.”
At least 18 firefighters are expected to live in the new fire station.
The facility has a new workout space, a bigger bunk room for firefighters to sleep in and separate locker rooms for men and women as well as shower areas.
JFRD managed to purchase the land for the new station thanks in part to a church.
The Potter’s House International Ministries owned the property.
Bishop Vaughn McLaughlin, who is the pastor and senior leader of the church, decided to sell the property for the sole purpose of having the fire station set up shop there.
“To have first responders to be able to have this type of safety that this will provide [is a great thing],” McLaughlin said. “We have a school next door with hundreds of kids. Another school one block away with hundreds of kids. I know that this station is going to serve this community in a way that this community needs to be served.”
It is a bigger station with bigger expectations.
“If you are the one who is calling 911 and you need that service immediately, whether it is a medical emergency or if there is a fire, it is going to mean everything to you because it can be the difference between life and death,” Powers said.
Powers said the price tag for the new station was $7.5 million.