Ground broken for new Springs fire station

The ceremonial groundbreaking for Colorado Springs Fire Station 21 took place Monday morning and was the first fire station groundbreaking in five years.

The station will be built at the intersection of Dublin Boulevard and Peterson Road.

“It’s a place where we can get our crews to fire scenes, hazmat scenes, medical scenes, paramedic calls, traffic accidents, all those types of things very, very quickly,” said Fire Chief Richard Brown.

The $3 million building is expected to significantly decrease response times to emergencies east of Powers.

The station will house one engine and four firefighters. Brown said at this time, the department is planning to move one company from Station 17, near North Carefree Circle and Tutt Boulevard. Station 17 currently houses two companies.

The building will be paid for by the Public Safety Sales Tax, a 4/10 of a cent sales and use tax increase that is dedicated to public safety personnel, equipment, operations, and facilities.

“It’s all going to be paid for with cash. There’s not going to be any debt as this thing gets moving forward,” said Brown.

Due to a struggling economy and limited funds, plans to build Station 21 were halted in 2009.

“We’ve been saving, literally, our nickels to do this,” said Brown.

According to CSFD, plans to remodel Station 1 were put on hold in order to fund the building of station 21.

“We’ve pulled though pretty good as a community. So, thank you community for supporting your city and, specifically, public safety,” said Brown.

Brown said the building of Station 21 is in response to an ever-growing population in Colorado Springs.