JACKSON – A new firehouse will be constructed near the Jackson Justice Complex in the future under a plan being developed by the Jackson Fire District No. 2 Board of Fire Commissioners.
On Dec. 13, members of the Jackson Township Council voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance authorizing the donation of a 2.6-acre parcel on West Veterans Highway (Route 528) to the fire commissioners.
“By getting the township to help us with the land, we are able to save taxpayer money. We do not have to purchase the land and that was a big thing we were looking into,” said Scott Rauch, the administrator of Fire District No 2.
“We were looking at how we could get what we need to suit the needs of our district and the township without putting a extra burden on the taxpayer,” he said.
At present, there are two firehouses owned by Fire District No. 2. One firehouse is on Miller Avenue and houses the fire district’s offices. The Cassville Volunteer Fire Company responds out of that building. The second firehouse is on South Hope Chapel Road and the Whitesville Fire Company responds out of that building.
“The Cassville fire company also owns a firehouse they use which is at the corner of West Veterans Highway and Toms River Road (Route 571),” Rauch said. “That firehouse is old and older firehouses were a lot smaller so it is tough to get newer trucks out there.
“It is a busy location and it is not safe to back the trucks into the firehouse due to its proximity to the intersection. We need to replace that old firehouse. We just cannot put modern fire trucks in there anymore,” he said.
Rauch said the location for the planned new firehouse on West Veterans Highway near the Jackson Justice Complex is in an area of town that all of Jackson’s fire companies consider to be the geographic center of the municipality.
That location “will provide us with quick access not only to any part of the fire district, but to any part of the township,” Rauch said, adding that the centralized location will provide reasonable and acceptable response times throughout the fire district.
“We are anticipating a six- to eight-bay fire station with offices and we are anticipating building it in case we have to expand with offices, sleeping quarters and things of that nature. It is going to be located by the justice complex so the building will look like the other buildings at the complex, like the library and the police station,” he said.
The planned firehouse will be near the Jackson Jungle playground, but Rauch said a police access road will be used to enter and exit the complex.
“Our concept is to eliminate through traffic as much as possible, through the justice complex, because the public uses that a lot for access to the ball fields, the library and the (playground), so we want to eliminate our response traffic so we are going to use (the police access road) to get in and out of that area,” he said.
Fire district officials will eventually select an architect to design the building and Rauch said he anticipates it will be a few years before an application for the construction of the new firehouse is presented to municipal officials.
