WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — The city of Warren is celebrating after opening a brand-new fire station on the northeast side, a project that has been in the works for three years.
Watch Whitney Burney's video report below:
The $8.2 million build-out of the new Station 5 near 13 Mile and Schoenherr roads aims to improve response times and save lives in the community.
"What a proud and truly historic day this is for the city of Warren," Warren Mayor Lori Stone said. "The building that served our needs for more than 70 years was more than just a place of work. It was foundation of service, a witness to countless acts of bravery and second home to a generation of firefighters."
The celebration began with a procession of gear and trucks from the original location at Common and Hoover roads.
The new state-of-the-art facility is now double the size with a separate living area, but more importantly, it provides a central location better suited for emergency response.
"Our old station, when that station was built, Warren was envisioned as a 200,000-person city. Because of that, they planned to build nine stations. When it didn't reach that, they only built six, however, the six-some of them were poorly located to serve the entire city," Fire Commissioner Wilburt McAdams said.
"We like to think of time as life, and time as property. So, the quicker we get there, the quicker we're able to mitigate the incident," McAdams said.
The grand opening brought out dozens of excited families from the community.
"I think it's definitely a good thing, especially during emergencies to make sure that they're getting there on time," said Ashley Chatel, who lives and Warren and brought her son to check out the fire trucks at the event.
The city says this station is only the beginning. In about a month, construction is expected to wrap up at the new Station 1 location near 9 Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue.
"We're super excited. It's been a long road, a lot of challenges. Everything from construction delays, utility delays, internet delays but finally in the end, it all came together," McAdams said.
The commissioner says it will be about a week before Station 5 is fully open and operational as they continue moving gear and equipment.
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