LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Anchorage Middletown Fire and EMS has broken ground on a new Station 36 in Fisherville, a more than 16,000-square-foot facility planned for a five-acre site, as leaders say growth in the area has strained the current station.The department said the site is expected to become Fisherville Station 36 by next August. The new station will include living quarters, a kitchen and fitness space.“We’re continuing to get new neighborhoods put in out here. I moved out here myself,” said Pat Walsh, ...
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Anchorage Middletown Fire and EMS has broken ground on a new Station 36 in Fisherville, a more than 16,000-square-foot facility planned for a five-acre site, as leaders say growth in the area has strained the current station.
The department said the site is expected to become Fisherville Station 36 by next August. The new station will include living quarters, a kitchen and fitness space.
“We’re continuing to get new neighborhoods put in out here. I moved out here myself,” said Pat Walsh, fire chief of Anchorage Middletown Fire and EMS.
Department leaders said the current Fisherville station was originally designed to store equipment, not house a full-time fire station.
“It was built back in the ’70s as a small volunteer station with no intention of anyone living here,” Walsh said.
Joe Wolfe, assistant chief of Anchorage Middletown Fire and EMS, said the department has outgrown the building and has limited space at the current site.
“We’re really kind of stuffed in there. We had to remodel it in order to get minimal accommodations,” Wolfe said.
Leaders said the current station sits on about a third of an acre, leaving no room to expand. Wolfe said the Floyds Fork watershed has also been a concern and a guiding principle from the beginning.
Anchorage Middletown Fire and EMS leaders said the limited space has made it difficult to staff the unit around the clock. They also said that the lack of proper decontamination areas between living and storage spaces has increased cancer risks for first responders.
“For a while, we weren’t able to even staff it,” Wolfe said. “And that impacted the fire protection out here. It impacted insurance rates.”“For a while, we weren’t able to even staff it,” Wolfe said. “And that impacted the fire protection out here. It impacted insurance rates.”
The new station is planned to include safety features that the current building does not have, including proper sanitation areas and gear storage.
Rep. John Hodgson, R-Fisherville, said the station is important for emergency response in the area.
“This is the only emergency services between here and the county line with Shelbyville and the county line with Spencer,” Hodgson said. “So it’s absolutely vital that this station be a modern facility, a great place for the firefighters and EMS workers.”