Alan Ingram
Express correspondent
A new fire station proposal is moving forward to Town Meeting and a debt exclusion vote at the Town Election as town officials seek to address significant safety concerns and upcoming OSHA compliance requirements that the current 50-year-old facility cannot meet.
The proposed station would provide proper apparatus bays for larger modern vehicles, appropriate gear storage, and improved safety features for firefighters, according to a presentation by Jon Wilhelmsen, Chair of the Town Properties Committee at a joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee.
“We are looking at a new station really for physical and occupational safety concerns for our personnel,” Wilhelmsen says. “The facilities do not allow them to actually maintain the vehicles in the building.”
The current station, built five decades ago, is non-compliant with current OSHA standards and regulations. The building’s tight spaces create hazardous conditions for firefighters working with modern equipment.
“The building is currently non-compliant with current OSHA standards and regulations, like pretty much all of them,” Wilhelmsen explains. “It was a station that has served us very well for 50 years, and very well for something that it wasn’t intended to do for us.”
One major issue is the size of modern fire apparatus. Today’s fire engines and ambulances are significantly larger than when the station was built, creating dangerous conditions in the cramped space.
“Modern engines have gotten bigger, and everything continues to get bigger,” Wilhelmsen notes. “The ambulances seem to grow three feet every generation or so.”
Fire Chief Cheryl Davis explains that changes in safety requirements have driven the increase in vehicle size. “In terms of technology that has changed, so the cabs have to be able to sustain the weight of the vehicle if it rolls over. And just chassis have gotten bigger.”
The department also faces supply management challenges, with equipment currently spread across four different buildings and trailers in three locations. During winter, one fire truck must be stored in a garage on Center Street because there’s no heated space available at the station.
The new station design includes appropriate apparatus bays and storage space for the vehicle fleet, proper gear storage separated from public areas, and facilities for firefighters to clean up after calls before entering private or public spaces.
“This is set up with appropriate gear storage and also locations to be able to do the gear models and all the things like that,” Wilhelmsen says. “The staff can go right in here. They can leave off their gear to clean. You can also take showers before entering any of the private or public space of the fire station.”
The proposal comes as Massachusetts prepares to implement new OSHA regulations for fire departments in 2025. Chief Davis explains that 21 National Fire Protection Association requirements will become law, including standards for separate gear storage and ventilation systems.
“Twenty-one of those regulations are going to become law. We don’t have the exact date, but it says sometime in 2025, and that’s where a lot of the safety considerations for the station come in,” the Chief says.
These regulations address serious health concerns for firefighters, including cancer risks from diesel particles and other contaminants. “The diesel particles are one of the biggest contaminants that are leading to the increases in firefighter cancer rates,” Davis notes.
Town officials considered renovating the existing station but determined a new facility would be more cost-effective. Renovating would require a temporary station during construction, estimated to cost $2 million to $3 million just for the rental.
“It was two to three million dollars just to put up a temporary station and occupy it during the time that we would be working on the building,” Wilhelmsen explains.
Additionally, bringing the current building up to code would likely require demolishing most of it anyway. “You’re going to end up taking down so much of the building and coming up with a code for today’s roads, at which point you’re likely knocking down most, if not all, of the building,” Wilhelmsen says.
The project is currently out to bid, with responses expected by mid-April. If approved, the new station would require approval at the May 14 Annual Town Meeting and a debt exclusion ballot question at the May 17 Annual Town Election for funding.
Construction costs will continue to rise significantly in the coming years, “If the town decides it’s going to do it this year and wait a year and do it another year, I think the safest thing I can tell you is it will cost more,” Wilhelmsen warns.
The new station would be significantly larger than the current 1,400-square-foot facility. Supplies are currently spread across four different buildings. Officials emphasize that every aspect of the design serves a specific purpose to meet current and future needs.
“This is a station for Plympton. It’s designed to meet what we need,” Wilhelmsen says. “It’s a lot bigger than what we’ve had, but we have a bigger mandate than we did when we built this as a call station without EMS.”
If approved, construction would begin in late summer 2025 and take approximately 18 months to two years to complete. The existing station could potentially be repurposed as a community center.
Town officials plan to hold additional public outreach meetings, including one on Saturday, April 5, at 10:30 a.m., and two weeknight meetings in April to gather community input before the town vote.