Fire stations and churches usually operate in different worlds, but beginning in early June, Allen Fire Station 2 will be working out of temporary housing placed on Church of Christ property on Exchange Parkway for a year as a new fire station is constructed at a cost of $2.9 million.
“The current facility has inadequate utility service, foundation issues, needs an additional bay, needs taller bays, accommodation for more employees, both men and women, and better space utilization,” director of engineering Chris Flanigan said in an interview with Allen American. “After careful consideration of all of these needs and the logistics of construction, it was deemed more practical to rebuild than renovate or retrofit.”
The church is glad to have the opportunity to help the fire station.
“We know that the fire department workers make great sacrifices for our community, and at times even put their lives on the line to help others,” pastor Tom Melton said. “We felt that it was the least we could do to help them.”
The fire department on Exchange Parkway is currently under construction, temporarily displacing the department headquarter.
While the arrangement will help the Allen Fire Department, the church expects some small, but manageable, problems.
“We do expect it to be a little inconvenient,” Melton said. “The inconvenience might be that they have to rush out while a church service is about to start or we hear them during a service. However we are a small congregation so we believe we can make room for the fire department and easily adapt to the minor issues.”
The firefighters themselves are expecting minor problems with the move.
“Since we are going to be operating out of temporary housing behind the church we expect it will be a little more difficult to get in and out of the property,” Allen Fire Chief Bill Hawley said. “We will also have to move all of our equipment over to the new location and get used to where it is stored so we can leave quickly when we get a call.”
Fire Station 2 is grateful that the church agreed to help them.
The Church of Christ is the temporary home to many firefighters as the department is currently being renovated.
“We really wanted and needed, a nearby location,” Hawley said. The church was adjacent so they were ideal. If they hadn’t accepted our request we would have had to go farther and it would have caused more problems as then we would also have to get used to a new location. It’s a good thing they didn’t deny us.”
