By Jim Tuttle
Public Opinion
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — Fire engines stored like sardines and ambulances kept outdoors for lack of alternatives are problems two emergency service agencies in Shippensburg have lived with for years.
“Anything we build has got to be better than what we have now,” said Dan Byers, president of Vigilant Hose Company No. 1.
His agency and Shippensburg Area Emergency Medical Service are currently located about a block from each other on East King Street. Both buildings are inadequate because they are too small and outdated, Byers said.
In less than two years, the agencies hope to be sharing a new, 31,000-square-foot facility at the intersection of East Orange Street and Walnut Bottom Road.
Once the new building is finished, the improvements to response time and improvements to how the two agencies can serve their community will be “huge,” said Shippensburg EMS Director Bill Naugle.
Since 1928, Vigilant Hose has been housed in a building that was built in 1927 as a police station, council chambers and community center, Byers said.
“It was built for the equipment needs they had in those days.”
An addition was built in 1969. Still, modern fire engines have to fit in parking spaces in a vehicle bay originally designed for police cars. Since the bay only has front doors, the trucks have to be backed in, so they face out the door in case of an emergency call, Byers said.
“We’ve been buying fire trucks to fit in the firehouse,” he said.
There is no outdoor parking for fire company members. Vigilant members are allowed to park “by the good graces” of a nearby church, Byers said, but available spaces dwindle during church service hours on Sundays and Wednesdays.
Bunk room space is very limited, and all facilities including bathrooms are co-ed, Byers said.
There are also concerns about ventilation. Since the engine room is immediately attached to the bunk and living areas, fumes from running trucks can become a safety issue for firefighters living at the station.
Since 2005, Shippensburg Area EMS has been working out of a storefront-type building rented from Vigilant Hose, Naugle said.
There is no garage, and ambulances are parked behind the building under a carport-type metal canopy. Without enough room on site to store all of the EMS vehicles, members sometimes have to find other options.
“In the past, we’ve parked vehicles at people’s homes,” Naugle said.
Living and office space at the EMS station are similarly cramped. For an agency that runs about 2,200 calls a year, room for records storage is getting hard to come by.
Construction on the new facility is slated to begin in March 2011, and is expected to last less than a year. The two agencies have purchased property for the building for about $800,000, and demolition of an old motel at the address is pending.
The construction management contract for the project was recently awarded to Brechbill and Helman Construction Company in Chambersburg. Other design team members include SGS Architects Engineers, Inc. of Carlisle and Carl Bert and Associates of Shippensburg.
Byers said the facility will be built in pursuit of LEED silver certification. A number of features will make the building environmentally friendly and efficient, said Brechbill and Helman project developer Angus Steinson. Special water fixtures will reduce usage at the new station by 40 percent compared to a building built to minimum code requirements. A “tight building envelope” and radiant floor heating will improve energy efficiency, Steinson said.
Also, 75 percent of the waste-stream during construction will be recycled, and low-emitting materials will be used throughout the project.
All told, the project is expected to cost about $6.5 million, Naugle said. The agencies are now working together to secure financing.
“We’re in the early stages of a capital fundraising campaign,” Byers said.
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