New substation for Pontiac Fire Department could come as soon as 2025

Erich Murphy, Pontiac Daily Leader
·4 min read

Construction on a second fire station on Pontiac's west side could start by the end of the year with the new estimated $2.2 million facility opening as soon as 2025.

The city has lined up financing from three sources — a $1.5 million grant from the Humiston Trust, $50,000 from the Foreign Fire Insurance Tax Board, $250,000 from the city's tax increment financing fund — and is awaiting confirmation on a $500,000 community development grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to go out for bids.

“The need has been around a long time,” Pontiac City Administrator Jim Woolford said. “It’s been talked about for years that we need a way to respond to things on the west side of the railroad tracks."

Three of the five ambulances in the Pontiac Fire Department's fleet sit in the department's garage on Howard Street. PFD Chief Jacob Campbell said two of the ambulances in the fleet will be housed at a substation on the city's west side when the structure is completed. There is no timetable yet when the substation will be constructed.
Three of the five ambulances in the Pontiac Fire Department's fleet sit in the department's garage on Howard Street. PFD Chief Jacob Campbell said two of the ambulances in the fleet will be housed at a substation on the city's west side when the structure is completed. There is no timetable yet when the substation will be constructed.

A longtime need

The need for a substation on the city's west side grew when the city's absorbed Duffy Ambulance Services.

“When we took over ambulance services, that only highlighted that need," Woolford said. "When a (long) train is coming, all the crossings in town are down. We’ve seen those (emergency services) out of service for 10 minutes or more, which is pretty critical when it comes down to a medical emergency.”

Pontiac Fire Chief Jacob Campbell agreed, saying the need for a second station is something emergency responders in the area have talked about since the 1980s.

“When Chief Don Ford was here, it was in the city masterplan to have a second station," Campbell said. "The need of monitoring the train conditions has increased because of the amount of not only passenger but as well as freight trains causing delay issues."

Campbell said the $500,000 UDSA grant, which was secured by former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, is helping to move the project forward after all this time.

A life-sustaining solution

About half of the city's calls for service come from the west side of the tracks.

A recent study showed that 51% of the city's emergency calls come from the east side with 49% coming from the west side. A total of 3,305 calls were made in 2023, Campbell said, an increase of 560 calls over the previous year or 20% more volume.

The railroad tracks split the fire department's 110-square-mile service area in half, Campbell said, making train delays difficult to avoid.

"When you’re dealing with cardiac issues, it’s important that we get to the patient within 4 to 6 minutes if they are having issues receiving oxygen," Campbell said. "After 4 to 6 minutes of no oxygen to the brain, life is not sustainable."

Pontiac Fire Chief Jacob Campbell said adding a substation for his department will help with emergencies on the city's west side.
Pontiac Fire Chief Jacob Campbell said adding a substation for his department will help with emergencies on the city's west side.

Two ambulances, one tire truck

The city plans to building the new station on 2.2 acres that it owns on Ewing Drive.

The new facility should be able to house two ambulances and a fire department apparatus vehicle.

It should be able to provide faster emergency response to the residential area around The Oaks at River Edge Golf Course, as well as other residential areas and businesses, such as Walmart, Runnings and the four motels-hotels west of the railroad tracks.

“The plan is to have a fire truck put there,” Campbell said. “Some days it will be EMS-only personnel out there. Some days there will be firefighters who are cross-trained in EMS and fire. Some days it will be a mixture.”

Summer 2025 completion

According to the city, there is no set plan for getting the project completed.

It's submitted all of the necessary paperwork for the USDA grant is waiting word on approval.

"It’s ready to be bid out to the design-builders," Woolford said. "We’re just waiting on the USDA to give us the final approval that our grant paperwork is correct. Once we get that, we can move forward. We were hoping to be along further than we are today.”

The city plans to use a design-build plan for the project. Woolford said that means the city will put all of its specifications together and seek bids from a company that will build the station.

Woolford said it was hoped to have bids let out by July but Farnsworth Group, the engineer for the project, does not want to let bids out the grant is finalized.

The city now hopes to award a bid by fall and that construction would begin three months later.

Woolford said completion should take place by summer 2025.

“I think it’s an exciting time for us to fulfill a mission that we’ve been eyeing for decades,” Woolford said. “It’s a pretty exciting time for our city to advance our services and be able to provide faster and more responsive service, especially with our west side growing.”

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Pontiac taking steps to finalize new substation on city's west side