MWC Fire Station # 2

[Lauri101]

I know we had a thread about the new fire stations, but this thread is about the new # 2 going up on Adair just west of Air Depot.

Does anyone besides me think it's odd for a fire station exit to only have one way egress? In order for a fire truck or rescue vehicle to go west, they will have to go east and make a u-turn about a 1/2 block later. It seems awkward and inefficient to me - what say ye?

[woodyrr]

Quite honestly, I hadn’t really considered that in light of the virtual certainty that response times to the southwest, west, and northwest of the relocated station have been dramatically reduced relative to current times by relocating the station on a major artery about a half-mile closer to the location of a potential call.

I have been monitoring the MWC police and fire radio communications for about 30 years and from that I can say that they don't dawdle around to start with. The most dramatic reduction in response times will be to the Autumn House, which is possibly the single entity responsible for the most calls for service in station 2’s district for both EMS and fire alarm calls. The second entity responsible for a concentration of runs is the nursing facility on Buena Vista and it might be faster and safer for everybody for the apparatus to use Air Depot to SE 15th and then west to Buena Vista. I say this because currently when Station 2 runs there, they eschew Adair Blvd in favor of the Air Depot Blvd. / 15th Street route.

The greatest impact from not being able to exit either way on Adair Blvd. would be on the hotels and the Reed Center or other business concentrated along 1-40, but even with having to make a turnaround in front of the autumn house, it is a more direct and less congested route to those locations than the one from the current station.

The residential additions to the immediate south, immediate north, east, and further north across SE 15th St. are more easily accessed with an Air Depot Blvd. route.

I think that given the general relocation of the fire stations those of us in the original mile and the mile to the west are better served, especially in the event of a fire, because the second engine responding to a fire call can come from either station 3 or the new station being built at the city garage, the new station being closer than station 1 is now. It also depends on what the apparatus assignments are going to be. At station 2, I’m counting on a Ladder Company and Rescue Squad. Whether they choose to assign a Brush Pumper to the third bay or an Engine Company (in view of the high value properties around the Reed Center and Downtown) remains to be seen. I’d like to see a second Engine Company, but that’s just self-interest talking and not a whole lot of reality. Self interest would like to see a Ladder Company and a Rescue Squad at the City Garage station as well.

[Lauri101]

Good points, woodyrr - and yes, I do believe that the location is better than current location for overall service.

Over the course of the 25 years I've lived on West Rickenbacker, we've had to call 911 for life-threatening emergencies about 4 times. EMTs from station 2 have been at the house almost before I'd hang up the phone.

Station 2 guys are my heroes and great neighbors. I'll miss their proximity but I'm glad they are getting new quarters!

[oneforone]

They may come in put a cut in to the median like station 3 has on Air Depot.

[woodyrr]

I hate to rattle on interminably, but the Midwest City Fire Department is one of very few ISO Class 1 rated fire departments in the country and from listening to them on the radio every day, I have a good idea how they go about maintaining that rating. While I’m not a fan of government generally, Midwest City is fortunate to have the Midwest City Fire Department standing by, and I think that they deserve some praise.

Fortunately the location of the fire stations is but one small factor that affects the level of service, since the dispatch process begins when the caller dials 911 and the phone rings at the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP or 911 Call Center) rather than when the trucks leave the station.

Some of the other factors that influence MCFD’s level of service are:

Enhanced 911 – Where calling party address information is captured and fed into the:
Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system which helps the dispatcher determine which resources are required for the call and which are available. The CAD (and MWC apparently has a reliable system) sends call information by radio to Mobile Computer Terminals (MCT) in all of the apparatus where the responders can review and confirm the address that was relayed audibly by radio when the call was dispatched. I assume that the Fire Department has a “premise history” page on their MCTs where information about previous calls to that address can be reviewed so that they know in advance any special considerations or other requirements that they should be aware of.

In the event of a fire, each of the fire hydrants in the city has been located by GPS and the coordinates have been presumably loaded into the CAD for easy reference. Additionally, the location of every hydrant has been marked by placing a blue reflector in the middle of the street adjacent to each one. In the spring, residents are used to seeing fire units driving through the neighborhoods, flushing each plug to get the crud out of them.

Finally, MCFD has modern, quality, fire apparatus and the fire personnel are trained and cross-trained in a wide variety of disciplines and to a high standard.

On a related topic, Midwest City Regional Hospital ambulances serve Midwest City, eastern Oklahoma County, Tinker AFB, and Moore and the same dispatchers constantly monitor the availability status and locations of ambulances and move them as necessary to maintain even coverage.

Disclaimer: I am not an employee of the City of Midwest City. The information above has been compiled from newspaper articles and from monitoring the radio communications of the MCFD and MCRH EMS.

[woodyrr]

I didn't see anything in the newspaper or on the web, but the City of Midwest City dedicated the new fire station 2 this evening. I wouldn't have known about it except that they were talking on the radios about traffic control. Ladder 2 and Squad 2 have been responding from the new station for a few weeks now perhaps both day and night.

I missed the actual dedication because I had a pizza on the way when I heard about it, but I wandered over a while ago and took some pictures of the station and the apparatus gathered there.

Inside, is very nice with huge comfy leather chairs and big screen TVs. Each firefighter has a bedroom on the second floor and there is a fire pole down to the apparatus room. The oddest thing was in the kitchen, where there were three huge side by side refrigerators. Those guys must eat something fierce.

On a tangentially related note, I see that the footing for the new water tower has been poured, so it should begin to rise soon. It won't be long before the original City Hall, "old" fire station 2, and the water tower will be coming down.

Midwest City Fire Department - a set on Flickr

[Lauri101]

On a tangentially related note, I see that the footing for the new water tower has been poured, so it should begin to rise soon. It won't be long before the original City Hall, "old" fire station 2, and the water tower will be coming down.

Woodyrr - thanks for the pictures!

Although I am thrilled that the wonderful crews from Ladder and Squad 2 have got new digs, I'm really going to miss them as close neighbors. The crews have always been friendly, plus my S.O. has had two heart attacks in past ten years and they have been at the house before I could hang up the phone.

And the demolition of the water tower, station and community center/old city hall is a piece of history that should NOT be taken away.

Don't get me wrong - I love the new Town Center, but progress and history can be partners. The OSM is losing a lot of character with the loss of those buildings and tower!

[bombermwc]

I wondered why they had Adair closed off going east. That really pissed me off as I was trying to get over to Air Depot....

It looks like HQ should be done any time now too. I haven't checked out the other Air Depot station yet.

[oneforone]

All the new stations are now in operation. The old headquarters station is being used for command vehicles and the emergency operations trailers.