MERIDIAN, Idaho — To cater to the rapid growth in the Treasure Valley, public safety agencies, like the Meridian Fire Department, are expanding to keep people safe.
The city knew years ago that there would be a need for a new fire station in south Meridian, holding the location on Lake Hazel Road for the new home of Station 7.
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“By having more stations south of the interstate, it does create shorter response times to emergency events,” says Deputy Chief of Administration Charlie Butterfield.
Improvements to the station dispatch software ‘Opticom’ allow emergency responders to get on the road faster, and then further assists responding vehicles to quickly navigate the streets.
“We should see about a 20% reduction in our travel times. It’s a cloud-based technology, it uses a predictive analytic model, so it’s throwing technology and infrastructure before we hire more firefighters and build more fire stations,” said Chief Kris Blume, Meridian Fire Department.
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Prioritizing the short and long-term health and wellness of those in the line of service, those overseeing the station's layout have created separate spaces for training, post-scene clean up, and living quarters.
“Cancer is a very big concern and a very high occupational hazard for firefighters. So anything that we can do, as fire administration, to make sure to reduce that, especially as it relates to technology and design of fire stations, we are going to make those efforts and make that happen,” says Butterfield.
Station 7 will also be the only station to be “co-locating” with Ada County Paramedics, making EMT resources more accessible to the community, as well.
“This station is going to be here for a long time. I think about the relationships that are going to be built, the paramedic crew and the fire crew living and working at the station 24/7,” says Chief Shawn Rayne, Ada County Paramedics.
The grand opening also allowed Meridian Firefighters to connect with the people they will serve daily, offering fire engine tours and a chance to meet community members.
Meridian residents Juliet and Ezra got a personal tour of Engine-37 and they said “Thank you to our First Responders!” to share their appreciation.
Station 7 was completed on time and under budget, now the department sets its sights on opening Station 8 in West Meridian in the coming months.
