You are not alone if you have wondered how the Algoma Fire Department fits all its equipment and people into one space. The Algoma Fire Department is looking to join the police department in a new facility on Sunset Avenue in the city’s industrial park. The building has been two years in the making after the city conducted a space needs analysis and found the fire and police department needed a little more room. They still need the city’s voters to approve the facility’s construction which carries a price tag of approximately $5.7 million. Approving the referendum would cost property owners $162 on a $100,000 home. The fire department has outgrown its 70-year old building in the city’s downtown district. Fire trucks and ambulances have just inches of clearance when leaving the building and are parked just a few feet from each other. Medical supplies are stored in a former bathroom, while other items are placed wherever they can find space. A full response to a fire often requires a city street near the station to be closed down. 

Algoma Fire Chief Tom Ackerman says the new area also keeps in mind the health and safety of its volunteer department.

Ackerman hopes the new facility will also improve its recruitment and retention efforts. He invites members of the public to come to tour their current headquarters and to attend their upcoming informational meeting on March 16th at the Algoma Elementary School Auditorium at 6 p.m.