The Perryville Fire Department made history.
Members of the fire department, city officials, and county officials and others broke ground on, what will be known as Perryville Firehouse No. 2 on July 7.
The new structure, on the west/north side of the Highway 51 bypass, will be in front of the Citizens Electric facility and will be the first firehouse built in Perryville since 1974.
“We have bought and acquired buildings in the past, but never built,” City Administrator Brent Buerck said. “This is a big deal, not only for the fire department, but also the City of Perryville.”
The primary reason for the firehouse is location and to help coverage of an ever-growing city.
“We are blessed to have one of the best voluntary fire departments in the state of Missouri,” Perryville Mayor Larry Riney said. “As our city expands to the north and west, we believe it advantageous to the fire department to arrive at a residence or business as quickly as possible.”
The extra coverage also helps the city’s Insurance Services Office score, which takes into account how prepared a community an area is for fires and affects homeowner’s insurance as a result.
“Our ISO rating is a four which doesn’t mean a lot to people, except for insurance purposes,” Buerck said. “Our four is equal to that of the City of Cape Girardeau that has a full staff and multi-unit department. Our guys who are paid on call firefighters, equal what they are doing, which is a testament to Fire Chief Jeremy Triller and his staff.”
Triller bragged on his department on its quick response to a fire on July 3, which from the time of the call to the arrival was five minutes.
“We want to provide that type of quick response time to all parts of the city,” Triller said. “It’s amazing to see the dedication of the department and the willingness and selflessness to help the people of Perryville.”
Along with the development and construction of Firehouse No. 2, who’s address will be 650 Perryville Blvd, a third firehouse that is close to completion just off of Highway 61 South, will also help with coverage of the city. The competition of both stations will make sure the western and southeast parts of the city will all be covered. The third station also includes a police impound facility.
Along with the extended coverage area, the new firehouse will help with additional storage of fire equipment. The station located in downtown Perryville will continue to be the fire department’s headquarters.
“All our fire equipment is located in the downtown area all within a couple blocks of each other,” Perryville Assistant Fire Chief Bill Jones said. “Right now if a tornado hits the downtown area, it is possible to wipe out all of our fire equipment. This way the fire equipment will be spaced throughout the city, not only geographically, but also by type of equipment.”
Jones noted that Firehouse No. 2 will have more equipment suited for commercial use.
“There is a lot of industrial equipment in that area,” Jones said. “You have a lot of businesses such as TG-Missouri and Citizens Electric, along with many others, which requires some different equipment most times, such as our haz-mat unit and things like that.”
The city has chosen Dille-Pollard as the architect, Zoellner Construction as the designer of the building. The land was purchased for the new firehouse about four years ago for the purpose of the fire station, with serious consideration into design being a two-year process. The design will help Jones realize one of his dreams as a child in the construction of Firehouse No. 2.
“I grew up in this city and I could remember when the old fire station, which was down from where the current station is now, didn’t have any windows and no windows in the garage door,” Jones said. “When we would drive by I would ask my parents to circle the block three or four more times, especially when the doors were open to look inside and see the firetrucks. To look at the artist rendering of the station, I don’t think we will have a problem with seeing the equipment with all the windows it will have.”
Completion of the construction will be early 2023.
“We are blessed to have the support of the city and the community,” Jones said. “We hope to do them proud and to have the continued support of everyone involved. I believe that we will because I know the type of community that we have in Perryville.”
