LE MARS, Iowa (Iowa Media Wire) — The Le Mars Fire & Rescue has proposed a new site as their new fire station.
“You know, we’re usually the ones helping people, and now we need a little help. So, we’re asking it back from the public,” said Le Mars Fire Chief David Schipper.
The idea for this proposal started a few years back as the need for staff grew quickly.
“Right now, I have no room to add any more staff,” Schipper said. “So as the community grows, I don’t have any room for staff, that’s one. Two, we don’t have any room for any more equipment.”
At the current station, there’s only one shower stall available for all personnel, and finding space for crew members has become a challenge.
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“We’ve had to make bedrooms out of closets and things like that,” said Schipper. “We’ve had to add a kitchen. We used to have a living room, but now that’s a bedroom. So we don’t even have a living room for the guys or a day room, so to speak. I want them to have a bedroom that they can actually be comfortable to rest in.”
One of the main issues Schipper stressed was that the current location for their second fire station has made going to emergencies quite difficult. And, if the bond is approved, the new firehouse will be located on 12th Street Southwest, and Schipper said that the new location will help with that.
“It gets us access to the bypass. Out here on the west side of town, to get out on the bypass and other communities and in our rural areas, it also gives us access to our main central avenue, Main Street. It gives us access to K-49, which is our major response route, Kellen Ponderosa south 14 miles,” Schipper said.
The new firehouse will also help with long-term costs.
“It will give us a newer facility that’s easier to upkeep and not be retrofitted all the time, any time we need to do something,” said Schipper.
The proposed bond will be on this year’s ballots on November 4.
