City Council Approves Fire Station #1 Site Plan

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

The Mesquite City Council approved a site plan last week for a new fire station to be located in the downtown area of the city. In a meeting held Tuesday, June 28, the council reviewed plans for the new station which is slated to replace the old Station #1 currently located behind City Hall. The new location is proposed at 105 W. Mesquite Blvd, just south of the Library branch and directly across the street from Ace Hardware.

Mesquite City Planner Richard Secrist presented the plans before the council. The 14,000 square foot building is planned to use CMU block and stucco with a three-tone color scheme, Secrist explained.

In addition to the apparatus bays, the building would provide a fitness gym, a room for turnout gear, room for SCBA systems, laundry facilities, eight dorm rooms for firefighters on shift, a kitchen facility, a day room, training facilities, a conference room and office space for the Fire Chief and Deputy Chief, Fire Marshall and other officials.

In addition, the City’s Emergency Operation Center would be moved from City Hall to the new Fire Station #1, Secrist said.

Secrist explained that when emergency calls come in, the fire trucks and rescue vehicles would exit the station directly onto Mesquite Blvd.
“The medians in the boulevard will be redesigned to accommodate both right and left turn movements onto the boulevard,” Secrist said. “There will be flashing lights to stop traffic when calls are coming in and the apparatus are leaving.”

When the firefighters return to the station they would approach from Desert Drive just to the west of the station, enter a driveway behind the building and pull into the bays facing the boulevard again, Secrist said.

The city’s Architectural Committee had reviewed the plans and recommended that the council approve them, Secrist said. City staff also recommended approval.

With no discussion from council and no comments from the public, Boger made a motion to approve the site plans. The motion was adopted with a unanimous vote.