A once-outdated fire station in Shawnee will re-open as a state-of-the-art facility for firefighters in the area. Located at 6805 Hedge Lane Terrace, Fire Station 73 will host a grand opening from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday for people to check out the building’s upgrades. The renovations are part of a roughly $26 million project to upgrade the station, as well as the John B. Glaser Fire Station Headquarters, set to open later this year, at 6501 Quivira Road. “When you look at fire services around the country, these will be considered cutting-edge fire stations,” said Fire Chief Rick Potter. Built in 1987, Fire Station 73 was originally intended for two full-time employees. Now, there are four firefighters per shift and three ambulance employees. The building had problems that long predated Potter, who was sworn in as fire chief in 2020. “It had been minimally meeting the needs (of the department),” he said. “But I think it became more pronounced when we went through the [COVID-19] pandemic in 2020. It’s when it really became almost untenable.” Citing problems like cramming four firefighters into one room to sleep, as well as alarms that would abruptly wake them up, regardless if it was their call; areas where they would be exposed to contaminants in the air and general health concerns, Potter said changes were needed. “Our firefighters live here a third of their lives, so (we’re) trying to do as much as we can to take care of our staff,” he said.
Source: Prairie Village Post
