Meridian opens $5.4 million fire station

Meridian has a new fire station to serve the southern portion of the city.

The City of Meridian held a ceremonial uncoupling of a fire hose on March 12 to mark the grand opening of their new fire station No. 6 at 1435 W. Overland Road. It is a firefighter tradition to uncouple a fire hose instead of cutting a ribbon.

Meridian broke ground on the fire station in March 2019. The cost of the entire project, including the design, landscaping and construction, was $5.4 million.

The new fire station will have one fire engine and a battalion chief. It is the second Meridian fire station in the southern part of the growing community.

Fire Chief Mark Niemeyer told the assembled crowd of over 200 about the station’s many modern features, including facilities to decontaminate equipment exposed to biological and chemical hazards.

Niemeyer also credited the many people who helped with building the new station.

“Mayor Tammy (de Weerd) gave us a lot of help over the years, and that is why we are here today … ESI was our partner to build the station. It was a great design and a great build.”

The new station has a footprint of 10,229 square feet. The layout allows for better ventilation, isolated areas for contaminated gear, and easy access to the fire engine. Not only does the station have state-of-the-art decontamination facilities, it also features a robust diesel exhaust system in the fire engine bays.

On the living quarters side of the station, there is a modern kitchen, laundry and spacious lounge area with a large comfortable armchair arranged around a wide flat-screen television. There are also offices and bedrooms.

Other features of the station include easy-to-clean concrete flooring, hand washing sinks at every entry to the living quarters and a work-out room. The facility also boasts the only self-contained breathing apparatus washer in Idaho, which saves the firefighters from the usually arduous task of decontaminating each individual SCBA by hand.

“A lot of the work (to build the station) was done by people who came before us,” said Mayor Robert Simison. “Public safety has been and will continue to be a top priority in Meridian, and this fire station is a testament to that commitment.”

The station will provide fire service within a five-minute travel time in Meridian and is also strategically placed near overpasses to respond to areas north of the interstate, he added.