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It doesn’t hurts to try has never been more true for several entities in Southeast Texas. Over $6 million in federal grants for improvements have been awarded to Nederland Fire and Rescue, Port Neches Fire and Rescue, the Port of Port Arthur and several others.
This is great news for Nederland Fire Chief Gary Collins. The current fire station located at 14th St. and Boston Ave. was originally constructed in 1957 and something needed to be done said Collins and with the grant of over $2.1 million that day is finally here.
When the facility was built it was created with the size of fire trucks and equipment that was much smaller and with the continual improvent and resulting growth in size of rescue vehicles, space has continually lessened over the years.
“We’ve had to modify the station and trucks to make it all fit,” said Collins. In order to fit between the rescue truck, located in the side bay, firefighters have to step sideways and attempt to slide between the rear of the truck and the wall.
The station was remodeled following Hurricane Rita but that still left little space for necessary equipment and personel to manuever around easily. Collins is glad to see that the new station will provide additional room as well as an emergency operations center. The center will provide first responders with a safe staging location during times of disasters or emergencies.
A study will be done soon in order to determine a better location for the new station.
“It was time to do it and we have been fortunate enough to receive this grant,” said Collins.
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