CAFB receives new, improved fire station

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Danielle Powell
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  There was a ribbon cutting for the new Crash and Fire Rescue Station Tuesday.
This $8.6 million project was started in June 2005 and was completed this April. This is the first public view of the new station. Mississippi Congressman Roger Wicker was on hand to cut the ribbon.
While the old fire station at CAFB, Duncan Hall, was built in 1956 had become outdated. The new fire station has almost twice the square footage of the former and integrates more high technology and innovation than any facility on base.
Along with the new building came the installation of a new alarm monitoring system. This new alarm system is set up to not only monitor all the fire alarms in the base buildings but the security force's intrusion alarms as well. And with more than 33,000 square feet and 12 vehicle bays, the new fire station is the newest and most advanced facility in the Air Force. If a call is received from a landline telephone on base, the system can track the direct coordinates that call is being received from.
Since firefighters work 48 straight hours, they have sleeping quarters on site. Each of the 23 rooms is equipped with a bed and a desk for them to study. If an alarm is received during the night, only the firefighters on the particular truck that needs to respond will be woken. This way the entire station will not be disturbed, as opposed to announcing the alarm throughout the entire station as it was previously done.
The station is also equipped with a modern kitchen, where personnel can cook meals while on duty. With the Air Force's philosophy of "fit to fight, the new station also has a modest fitness room to keep the fireman in shape.
The new station incorporates all requirements of the latest Air Force Fire Station design requirements and enhances mission effectiveness and provides a quality training environment. "This is a great day for Columbus Air Force Base" reflected Congressman Wicker. "Building this modern facility is a boost to the whole area."
Wing senior leaders, Congressman Wicker and Columbus Mayor Robert Smith received the first official tour of the station, with many BLAZE Team members and fire chiefs from surrounding municipalities close behind for their look at the most modern fire department in the United States Air Force.