MINOT — Members of the Minot Fire Department, Minot City Council, Mayor Shaun Sipma, and City Manager Harold Stewart held a groundbreaking ceremony to recognize the start of construction for Fire Station 5 on Monday afternoon.
“Fire Station 5 has been a long time coming,” Fire Chief Kelli Kronschnabel said. “As a department this project is very important to us as we work every day to protect our residents and community from the threat of fire and other emergencies.”
The new station on 4th Avenue just off the HWY 83 Bypass will allow the Fire Department to add an additional engine to their fleet, as well as cut down response times to calls in Northwest Minot to the department's desired 5:20 standard response time.
Chief Kronschnabel added that Fire Station 5 will be staffed by transferring nine firemen from the other stations and hiring three new crew members.
“We are excited to be here. We're excited to be a new neighbor up in this area, and the continued support for us has been overwhelming,” said Chief Kronschnabel. “This location was chosen a few years ago with a single purpose in mind: construct a fire station to improve the level of fire protection and emergency response for all of Minot, but especially for the northwest section of our community.”
The cost for Fire Station 5 construction is expected to be about $3.8 Million. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the Spring of 2023 with the station becoming fully operational later that summer.