OFD pleased with updated Station 2

Jul. 8—All of the furniture hasn't arrived yet and some of the rooms are still a little bare, but city firefighters are settling back into their home at Fire Station 2 on East Parrish Avenue.

The station, which underwent an expansion and renovation to accommodate the crew needed to cover the Kentucky 54 business district, is fully operational.

"It has taken a few weeks to settle in, but it's becoming a little more of a home situation," firefighter Bobby Glenn said.

The city allocated nearly $800,000 to expand Station 2 by 1,200 square feet. When fully staffed, the station will have up to eight firefighters on a shift.

The station covers Kentucky 54 and responds to emergencies at Owensboro Health Regional Hospital and its surrounding medical offices. It's not the busiest station in the city, but its responsibilities have grown as Kentucky 54 has developed into a major business district.

The station was originally designed for four firefighters and one engine, but now has both an engine and a "quint" — an all-purpose vehicle that is part ladder truck, part engine and part rescue vehicle.

"It's very important to have ladder companies for commercial response" for areas like Kentucky 54, Glenn said. "At this station, you probably have the most commercial response, so it was pretty important to have a ladder truck out here."

In addition to more living space for the crews, Station 2 has an expanded workout room, training and living space, men's and women's locker rooms and a conference room.

There's also expanded parking in the back, which was needed.

"We couldn't even park in the parking lot," firefighter Robert Harris said. "We had to park on the street during shift change."

The sleeping areas are small rooms, some of which have doors, which is an improvement over the cubicle-like sleeping areas in the other stations.

"This makes you feel a lot more private when you're trying to sleep," Lt. Luke Cecil said.

The expansion was built to the north of the engine bays, so the bays are the center of the station. That was intentional, so firefighters can get to the vehicles quickly from wherever they are in the station.

"The goal is out the door in 1 minute, 30 seconds" from alarm, Cecil said.

The work on Station 2 is the beginning of fire department plans to upgrade Station 1, Station 3 and Station 4. That work will be done after the city expands and builds a new fire training center at the corner of J.R. Miller Boulevard and 14th Street.

"Everyone is trying to be more energy efficient," Cecil said. "Stations 1, 3 and 4, none of them are insulated, except for the ceilings."

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse