The first newly built fire station in St. Paul in 15 years officially opened Tuesday, replacing a building that dated to 1930.

The $12 million station in Dayton’s Bluff has room for more emergency vehicles and firefighters than the old station, which will mean they can have a bigger impact on the East Side, said Assistant Fire Chief Jeramiah Melquist. It was also constructed with firefighter health and wellness in mind.

“This is more than just a building,” said Fire Chief Butch Inks. “It’s … a promise that help is never far away. … When lives are on the line, seconds matter.”

The new station by the Earl Street bridge is across the street from the old Station 7 on Ross Avenue between Earl and East Seventh streets, though the location wasn’t chosen “simply because there was land available,” Inks said. “We used a data-driven approach.”

Mayor Melvin Carter added: “For years, we’ve experienced … disparities in fire fatalities on our East Side that requires answers, that requires action, that requires investment.”

New station doubles size, room for fire rigs

The old Station 7 was 9,000 square feet vs. the new station’s 19,000 square feet. The land had been a vacant lot, which previously was home to the Viaduct Inn, a bar and restaurant. The St. Paul Port Authority sold the 0.67 acre lot to the city of St. Paul for $233,482.

The previous building had three bays for fire department vehicles, which the department said was increasingly inadequate for serving the community’s needs. The station previously housed a fire engine and ladder truck; an ambulance was moved to the building in 2018, which meant the engine had to relocate to a different station.

The new station’s garage has space for five vehicles: an engine truck and a ladder truck, two ambulances (one for advanced life support and one for basic life support), and a modified SUV for the district chief who is in charge of incidents.

Firefighters at the old Station 7 responded to 11 calls per day, on average, and Melquist estimates they’ll handle 20 to 25 calls from the new station.

Cancer-reduction measures

The garage has doors in the front and back, which are “a big safety factor” because a fire equipment operator can drive directly in and out, said Deputy Fire Chief Jamie Smith. At most fire stations in St. Paul, operators have to reverse the large trucks into the station “multiple times a day, 3 in the morning, snow storm,” for instance, navigating pedestrians and traffic, Smith said.

The station was designed with “cancer-reduction efforts in mind,” Smith said. A room directly off the garage will house specially-designed washers for firefighters’ turnout gear, which all fire stations in St. Paul have.

“Back in the day, it was a badge of honor to have dirty fire gear,” Smith said. “Now we realize that that soot is actually cancer-causing carcinogens.”

The goal is for firefighters to get out of their gear as quickly as possible and not bring it into the station. All St. Paul firefighters have two sets of gear, so they can use their other set if the first one is still washing or drying.

Firefighters have a 9 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer than the general U.S. population, the Firefighter Cancer Support Network says of national information.

‘Heartbeat’ of the station

St. Paul firefighters work 24-hour shifts and they’re encouraged to rest when they can between calls.

The new station has 12 small, individual dorm rooms and three rooms for supervisors. The old Station 7 and some of the city’s other 15 stations still have communal sleeping areas, with beds separated by curtains.

“Sometimes you sleep for a few hours, sometimes you sleep not at all,” Smith said of firefighters’ shifts.

The station alert system can be heard in each dorm room, so firefighters know when they’re being dispatched to a medical emergency or a fire.

“When that alarm goes off,” firefighters have a minute-and-a-half to get suited up and into their rig, Smith said. The new station has two fire poles, which are intended to save time for firefighters getting from the dorms and kitchen on the second floor to the first floor.

Twelve to 15 firefighters will work at the station per shift, and there’s a large kitchen with enough room for them to eat meals together. On-duty fire crews take turns cooking for each other.

“Firefighting is a tough job, it’s a mentally draining job” and firefighters drink coffee together and share meals, Smith said. “… If there’s a tough call and we need to just talk about it, this is an area where we do it. The kitchen is the heartbeat of any fire station.”

Home to first electric fire truck

St. Paul rolled out Engine 7 last year, which increased the department’s fleet of engines by one. It’s the first electric fire truck in the state and is now permanently housed at Station 7. The city is planning to purchase a second electric fire truck with a state grant, Carter said.

It’s not just about cleaner energy — the vehicle is “better,” Carter said. It’s “smaller and narrower, which means it can fit into spaces that other rigs cannot.” It can also get water onto fires faster than diesel-powered fire engines, he added.

When the city funded the station in 2019, it was expected to cost about $9 million, but costs kept rising and the project had a $10.7 million budget when they broke ground in 2023. “The longer we waited, the more expensive it got” and the final cost was approved by the city at just over $12 million, Melquist said.

It was funded by sales tax bonds and St. Paul’s Capital Improvement Budget, plus $1.7 million in federal funds, according to the mayor’s office. The office hasn’t made a decision about what will happen to the old station.

Firefighters have been working from the new station since April 10, and Tuesday was the day of the ceremonial ribbon cutting.