Fire Station 3, AFD’s newest firehouse, opens its doors

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - After a week of moving in, Friday marked day one for firefighters at the new Fire Station 3, as they begin to receive calls out of a new fire house.

Twelve firefighters in the Amarillo Fire Department now have a new place to call home.

“This has been a project in the works for close to a year now,” said Captain Kyle Joy, of the Amarillo Fire Department. “It’s replacing our old Fire Station 3, which was in Estacado. We’ve moved it over into this Westover Village area, right off of Oxford and Coulter."

The design is modern and AFD says there’s a reason behind it.

A washer and dryer is for cancer prevention so firefighters can wash their clothes at the station, in an effort to limit their families exposure to harmful chemicals.

New doors will open and close faster than before, improving response times.

“Not that we spend a lot of time waiting for doors to raise, but every second that we can shave off of responding to emergencies is crucial,” said Capt. Joy.

The location itself is strategically placed to better serve citizens.

“That places our station in a better response grid, we’re all going to be able to get to calls quicker that way,” said Captain Billy Greeson of the Amarillo Fire Department.

If any AFD extraction equipment breaks, it’ll be serviced in the tool room.

Firefighters who call this station home say the tool room and the truck room are an asset.

“It has good drainage, it has plenty of space, plenty of electrical hookups, plenty of air hookups, plenty of water hookups,” said Capt. Greeson. “It’s just going to be easy to work on things in there.”

Even though Fire Station 3 is brand new, firefighters say the memories from their old station and the history of the department stays with them as they become part of a new community.

“We want it to tie into the community. We also want them to feel like they’re proud of their fire department and their fire station,” said Capt. Joy. “The look of it is unique and we’re proud of our fire station.”

This station will be serving as a model for the other new fire stations currently in the works, like Station 9.

Copyright 2019 KFDA. All rights reserved.