A new fire station is coming to Chattanooga to provide enhanced service to the Eastdale community! The Chattanooga Fire Department is excited to break ground on a state-of-the art Station 15 on Shallowford Road. This project has been years in the making and it’s exciting to see it finally come to fruition under Mayor Tim Kelly’s administration. Old Station 15 will be demolished and the new fire station will be built on the same footprint.
The current building, built in 1960, is far obsolete and no longer fits the needs of the CFD due to size restrictions. Firefighters have been living and working in cramped quarters in the outdated facility.
The new fire station will be built by Robert Roberts LLC at a cost of $4.3 million. It will go from a single-bay station to a two-bay, 9,500 square foot building that will have space to accommodate more personnel and apparatus, allowing for further expansion of the fire department as Chattanooga continues to grow in population. It will have a kitchen, living area, sleeping rooms, showers, locker rooms and a gym.
The CFD command staff has been pushing and advocating for a new Station 15 for a number of years and the department received the capital funding for the project thanks to the City Council and Mayor Kelly’s staff. Engine 15 and the personnel that work at Fire Station 15 on all three of our rotating 24-hour shifts will be relocated to Station 6 on Bonny Oaks Drive for the duration of construction.
“We are thrilled to see the Station 15 project moving forward and we are so grateful for the support from our city leaders,” said Chattanooga Fire Chief Phil Hyman. “It will create a much better working environment for our firefighters and it is what the CFD needs as we look to the future of our department and our city.”
To ensure the fastest response times to emergencies in Station 15’s response area while construction is underway, Chattanooga city leaders have installed stop lights in the Wilcox Tunnel to allow fire trucks to go through the tunnel. This was made possible through a collaborative effort between the CFD, the Chattanooga Department of Transportation (CDOT), and the Department of Technology Services. Currently, our crews must use routes that go around the tunnel because it is too narrow for them to fit with other vehicles. Stopping traffic and allowing fire apparatus to go through will cut down on travel time and enable firefighters to get to calls faster.
The new Fire Station 15 will be a model design for future fire station builds as the CFD continues working to meet the city’s increased service needs, including a new location in Black Creek. Nine new firefighter positions have already been added to the department for a presence and fire protection in that area with more personnel to come in future budget years.
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