Brighton Area Fire Authority unveils new Station 33
BRIGHTON TWP. — Brighton Area Fire Authority firefighters may need a little while to get used to all the room at their new station — a recently completed a $4.5-million project that replaced the old Station 33.
At 11,500 square feet, the building has many more amenities than the approximately 2,200-square-foot station the firefighters previously were based in.
"In that old station, the rescue was parked behind the engine. They had to back out of the building to go on an emergency call," BAFA Deputy Chief Mike Evans said. "I don't know if I would ever make the statement that that building was sufficient. It was never built as a fire station."
Evans said the old station was an auto service garage and body shop that was purchased by the township. The department was there for a number of years and primarily housed only its vehicles. Evans said firefighters occasionally struck the building's walls trying to get their equipment in and out.
The building was so small, he said, firefighters didn't even have a kitchen: They had a grill and a table, so they could order food and bring it into the station. Then they had to eat in the bay next to the trucks and turnout gear.
"One of the big things that we push for is firefighter health and safety, is cancer prevention, so we try to keep our turnout gear separate from our living quarters. They were eating right next to their turnout gear," Evans said. "Every facility that we build from here on out will have that separation."
The journey to a new station
The fire authority purchased 4 acres of property about four years ago next to their former station. The new station is the second built under their 12-year, 0.89 capital improvements millage that was approved in May 2019.
BAFA broke ground about 14 months ago on the new station. They hired the same builder who worked on the Dorr Road station (Station 34). The new station, however, is slightly smaller.
Evans said the department had expected Station 33 to be completed by summer 2022, but work was delayed because of supply chain backups, specifically delays getting electric panels and a transformer.
The new station has offices, a training room, crew quarters, restrooms and locker rooms, a kitchen, a patio area, a laundering system to wash turnout gear and truck towels, as well as a separate washer and dryer for other clothes, along with an apparatus bay that includes exhaust fans. The bay is 5,000 square feet.
A big change is space designed for female firefighters.
"We are getting more and more female firefighters. You have to have the facilities to accommodate that, where that station didn't have anything like that, not even a shower in that building," Evans said.
Directly behind the station is a pole barn to house specialty trailers for units like a tech rescue team, a driving simulator trailer and others.
"This building is built for the future. We anticipate this building to be able to provide this community, the south side of Brighton Township, for the next 30 years out of this facility. That's kind of what our thinking was when we built it," Evans said.
The station is hoping to hold a grand opening sometime this month, but no date has been announced.
Livingston Daily reporter Patricia Alvord can be reached at palvord@livingstondaily.com.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: $4.5-million fire station unveiled on Weber Street in Brighton Township
