TURON, Kan. — Reno County Fire District #7, located in Turon is looking to upgrade and the Board of County Commissioners will consider a land purchase for that purpose as part of its meeting Tuesday.
The current station was built in 1947 with concrete block. An addition to the station was made in 2000. The concrete portion of the station is cracked and contains holes in the blocks and seams which keeps the station from being climate controlled. The station is heated by a space heater and in the cold months, because of the holes and cracks, the heater runs constantly to keep the pumps and plumbing pipes from freezing. This causes high gas bills for the district to pay during the cold winter months.
Another problem with the station is that the roof leaks when it rains to the point where anything of value in the meeting room/office area is covered by tarps to avoid damage. The station is also too small to properly fit all of the district’s trucks. Access to the driver side of one truck has to be made through the passenger side.
Due to the height restrictions of the station, an extensive search had to be completed when looking to purchase an Engine. Future truck purchases will be tough to complete because of the state of the current station. There is not enough room in the station to accommodate any larger apparatus that the district might purchase in the future.
The district has been planning to build a new station and a few years ago, the large lot on the southeast corner of Burns and Chicago was for sale.
The location is an ideal site for a new fire station, but the district was denied a station upgrade at that time. One of the firefighters, Anthony Perkins, bought the lot with the intentions of selling it to the fire district to be the site of the new fire station.
With Mr. Perkins expressing his desire to sell the property to the district, authorities feel it is time to begin the process of getting Fire District #7 a new station with the first step of action being the purchase of the land. The owner is asking for $5000 for the lot.
The Board of County Commissioners will meet Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Reno County Annex.