New Cookeville Fire Stations Will Have Modernized Safety

More space and a better focus on the safety of firefighters are part of Cookeville’s plans for a new Fire Station Three.

The city closed this week on land along Gould Drive for the facility. Cookeville Fire Chief Benton Young said the station being replaced is some 50 years old, and a lot has changed. He said the new station will include a separate area for gear and decontamination showers that will keep cancerous fumes from reaching firefighters in other parts of the station.

“That’s a big thing that’s killing us, right,” Young said. “So we want to try to mitigate that as much as we can. Where our gear, even though it may be clean, it can still gas off contaminants and stuff, so having that hot area of the stations where it’s not getting to the living quarters will make it a lot healthier.”

Young said the station will also include double-length pull-through bays so that the enormous fire trucks no longer have to back into the bays. He said the department is hoping to have a squad truck at each station to be used for emergency calls, keeping them from having to take a massive firetruck out to every emergency response.

“It’s just a lot more economical to run those versus the multi-million dollar apparatus that requires a lot more maintenance,” Young said. “So, we can get a longer-lasting apparatus as far as the large truck goes. We can get one of those to last longer which is going to be a savings for everybody over time.”

Young also said the smaller trucks will be more maneuverable. He said a large apparatus takes much longer to start and stop and is not able to fit into a tight space like a squad truck will. The trucks will still be outfitted with all of the necessary emergency equipment.

Young said the larger bays will also be able to hold more vehicles and trailers currently stored outdoors.

He said the modernized facility should be a source of pride for Cookeville residents and contribute to the contentment of station employees.

“These are going to be nice, new, modern stations,” Young said. “And I think any time a city can build new facilities, you’re just showing how good that city really is.”

The city will next enter the design phase to build a new Gould Drive station with plans to also find land in the North Washington Avenue area to replace that station. Young said both stations have not seen much renovation since they were built in the mid-1970s. He said the new state-of-the-art facilities will be a huge upgrade.