Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
GODFREY - The Godfrey Fire Protection District invites community members to their open house to celebrate the new fire station at 3023 Godfrey Road.
From 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, 2024, attendees can tour the fire station and hear remarks from State Representative Amy Elik, Godfrey Mayor Mike McCormick, Chief Eric Cranmer and others. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony and chances to see the fire trucks.
“This is a number of years culminating in tomorrow,” said Matt Horn, vice president of the Godfrey Fire Protection District Board of Trustees. “You don’t build a firehouse every day. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for us and I was really thrilled to be a part of it…The good Lord smiled upon us and we had a great team, and it just turned out perfectly. Every citizen should be extremely proud of our firehouse.”
The new fire station includes five bedrooms, a kitchen and kitchenette, a conference room, a training room, a living space, a reports room and more. The Godfrey Fire Protection District previously operated out of two stations at 6011 Godfrey Road and 1712 West Delmar. This new station has brought all the firefighters under one roof.
Horn and Gerard Fischer, the Board of Trustees president, noted that the vote to build the station passed unanimously and the new building was under construction for a year. Both men are excited by the fire station’s location, which is centralized in Godfrey along the main business corridor. Fischer and Horn clarified that while the Village of Godfrey is a separate entity from the Godfrey Fire Protection District, the Village, Mayor McCormick, and Board of Trustees have helped make the new station possible.
The firefighters consulted on the design of the project, so the station has all of the amenities that the firefighters need to be successful. This includes “state-of-the-art” equipment and technology, as well as several safety features.
“You have to remember that these firefighters, one-third of their life is spent in the firehouse, so you have to make good accommodations for them,” Fischer said. “There's a lot that happens behind the scenes. You think they just go out and make calls. When they’re in the firehouse, they’re changing oil on the trucks, they’re maintaining the trucks, they’re doing this, doing that. They’re doing everything.
Horn also pointed out that there is more “camaraderie” within the department now that all of the firefighters operate out of the same building. Because there is only one building, there will also be efficiency savings, and more firefighters can arrive quickly on the scene at the same time.
Fischer and Horn are eager to celebrate the new location during Saturday’s open house. They noted that this is a great chance for people to come “see where your money’s going” and support the firefighters who keep the community safe. They hope many attendees will come out to see all of the changes within the Godfrey Fire Protection District.
“One thing, they didn’t change their phone number,” Fischer added. “It’s still 911.”
For more information, visit GodfreyFire.com or VisitGodfrey.com.
More like this:
Related Video:
