ODESSA, Texas — After a long construction process, Odessa Fire Station #6 is finally complete.
“I mean it’s a great relief, first of all," Fire Chief John Alvarez said. "We were able to move this station over here to the new fire station and it’s been a blessing. I know that our men and women of Odessa Fire Rescue were excited to be ready to move into this new location, and so we feel it’s going to be, it’s going to help with our response as well. It’s going to give us good access to 42nd Street and obviously on Grandview.”
Wednesday was the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new fire station.
The fire station also includes things like a bigger classroom and a police office, so officers can come and go as needed in order to work on paperwork and other things.
The station is state of the art and also has new measures to better protect the brave firefighters who serve our community.
These include exhaust fans and louvers inside the truck room that activate after the trucks leave the bay to help filter out the exhaust fumes from the bay.
An interlock room has been put in place to better separate the rest of the fire station from truck room and prevent fumes from getting in.
All of these measures come after calls for better safety for firefighters.
“One of the things on these new fire stations, there’s a big push right now in the fire service for life safety initiatives such as cancer initiatives, those top things," Alvarez said. "And so we want to keep our men and women safe, you know, and make sure we’re taking the proper steps."