The Burlington Fire Department has been looking to build a new fire station for some time now. Currently, the city of Burlington has two fire stations, but an additional one would help protect the citizens of Burlington.
This proposed station would be on the city’s northwest side at 2100 North Roosevelt Avenue. With a fire truck, ambulance, and up to 5 fire fighters, the new station would allow first responders to meet the national standard for response times throughout the city.
Currently, a four-minute response time for an emergency is considered the standard, and it significantly improves outcomes for fire suppression and cardiac resuscitation. There is an area in the city of Burlington that is outside of the four-minute window, but a new station would be able to accommodate and service that area.
With an additional fire station, other units would be able to stay in their district, which would allow them to better focus and serve the citizens there.
The BFD has operated out of a temporary station at 3400 Mt. Pleasant Street since October 2018. However, this station has it’s problems and is not strategically located.
They did consider other sites for Station 3. Looking at a variety of factors, such as cost, availability, and lot size, as well as the key factor of response time, which ultimately led them to 2100 North Roosevelt Avenue.
The estimated cost is just over $8,000,000, which includes both the new 10,600-square-foot station and a fire training tower. Cost estimates for the new station are around $7,000,000.
The city plans to use general obligation bonds as the primary funding source to pay for the cost of the station. A bond is repaid using property tax levy funds, therefore 60% of voters would need to approve the question on the ballot on November 7 for the city to be able to take on the debt to build the new station.
If you have any questions regarding this project, please head to burlingtoniowa.org.