As many towns and cities deal with aging infrastructure, Platteville, Wisconsin and its neighboring townships are working together to build a new fire facility.
New Challenges with the Old Building
The current fire facility was built in the 1960s.
“It’s at the point now where we’re starting to see some issues,” explains Fire Chief Ryan Simmons. “It needs a roof, it needs windows, we’re low on space. The garage doors and the apparatus bay area were designed for fire apparatus from 60 years ago, not today’s. For the past 30 years, we’ve had to have every one of our trucks custom-built to fit into our station. Not only are we paying more for this, we are also having to place them in the building for how they fit, not necessarily for their response priority.”
Chief Simmons says that a lot has changed since the 60s, like concerns about contamination.
“We don’t have a place where a volunteer firefighter can shower after being at a fire before they go home or to their place of employment,” he explains.
One of the fire trucks currently being used by the Platteville Fire Department
Welcome Improvements
A new fire facility brings with it some enhancements like more space in the building and the addition of parking spots along the street for volunteer firefighters to park their vehicles. It will also have decontamination areas.
“There are two areas of the facility: a hot zone and a cold zone. Anywhere in the hot zone is where there is potential for some contaminants, whether it be offgas contaminants or things brought back from a fire, or even the vehicle exhaust. We’ll have air scrubbers, special areas for wash and decontaminate gear, showers, lockers, and laundry facilities,” Chief Simmons says.
The fire facility is being built for the future, which means that there will be dorm rooms and places where volunteers can decompress to deal with the mental stress of the job. It will also be all one story so that the building is more accessible to everyone in the community.
The current fire facility is two storeys.
Serving the Broader Community
The City of Platteville’s current fire facility serves surrounding areas, including the seven townships surrounding the city. The new facility will allow them to better and more efficiently serve all of these communities. They’re hoping the new building will help with recruitment and retention of volunteers as well.
“When communities are in a time of need, whether it’s a tornado, a storm, or a heat wave, the community looks to fire stations as a place of shelter or as a safe haven. Having the new facility in a more central part of town is a way that our community can use it for those purposes,” Chief Simmons says.
One of the fire trucks currently being used by the Platteville Fire Department.
Finances & Fundraising
A new facility like this needs significant investment and many in and near the community have helped chip in towards the $14.5 million cost.
“We received $7 million from the federal government to use toward this project. From there, the City and our partner townships came to an agreement that they could support sharing $6 million amongst them and then we agreed that we would look to do a capital campaign to make up the difference. With the support of community and partners like Pattern Energy, we’ve been able to reach the remaining goal of $1.5 million,” he says.
Chief Simmons says that the $1.5 million they needed to raise came from private citizens, business owners, and larger corporations.
Now that the funds have been raised, they’re expecting to break ground in March 2025 and to start building a month later. The new fire facility is expected to be completed in 2026.
Community Supporting Community
“It’s a pretty amazing feeling to know that our community has the backs of our volunteer firefighters,” he says.
The department is made up of two paid positions: the Fire Chief and a Fire Inspector. The rest are all volunteer firefighters.
“Thank you, Pattern Energy. It’s impressive that even though you’re new in town, you’ve come to Platteville and stepped up with a huge contribution. It’s commendable and a huge show of commitment to the community. It’s very much appreciated,” says City Manager, Clinton Langrek.