LEBANON — A new west side fire station will be built in Lebanon to meet rising public safety needs and to serve a growing industrial area, city officials said. The station was planned before the LEAP district was announced for the city.
“We have one on the north side, we have one on the south side and just putting one on the west side. It's almost kind of in the middle between the two as well,” Jason Hendricks, deputy chief of administration for the Lebanon Fire Department, said. “So it just really does kind of plan out exactly dividing our coverage area into thirds, and it just works out really well that way."
The department said it has seen more runs to the west side, prompting the decision. Workers in the area said the station will help keep current and future factory employees safe.
"Having one right here makes it that much closer, and within seconds, something can happen,” Tersea Harden, who works in the Lebanon area, said. “Just like anywhere else, like in your home. So there for it's something good."
Officials said the station will cost about $9 million and is expected to take a year to build. Firefighters will also receive trench-rescue training to prepare for emergencies tied to ongoing development.
"Some of these trenches and holes that these contractors are digging out here, they could be 15 feet deep, 30 feet deep,” Hendricks said. “There is just a huge potential for something happening. And as of right now, we are waiting on someone else to bring their technical rescue to the city."
The department said the new station will give residents and industrial tenants an additional line of defense. It also plans to add a squad truck to handle medical runs so larger fire apparatus won't be needed for every call.
