Fire Station 48 near 175th Street and Quivira Road will serve an 8-mile area annexed by the city in 2008. On Monday, fire officials and city leaders gathered at the station for a formal grand opening celebration. Images via Overland Park Fire Department.
Instead of a more traditional ribbon-cutting to mark the grand opening of Overland Park’s newest fire station on Monday, the occasion was celebrated with the uncoupling of a fire hose.
Fire Station 48 at 175th Street and Quivira Road, between Aubrey Bend Middle and Blue Valley Southwest High School, officially opened for service Monday morning, with fire officials, city councilmembers and outgoing mayor Carl Gerlach on hand.
Below is a diagram of where the station is situated, just west of Quivira.
The new station will help fill in a coverage gap in a growing part of southern Overland Park and will serve an 8-mile area annexed by the city in 2008.
That area had been previously covered by Overland Park Fire Station 45, which is a nearly 10-minute drive away on Antioch Road, along with some help from crews with County Fire District 2, which cover more rural areas of southern Johnson County and Miami County.
But the partnership with County Fire District 2 will continue with the opening of Fire Station 48, according to fire officials.
Overland Park Fire Chief Bryan Dehner said 22 of the new station’s employees are those who used to work at the nearest District 2 station.
Indoor bay
The new station is also borrowing some equipment, including a fire truck, from District 2 until Fire Station 48 is able to obtain its own.
“They’re sharing with us until ours actually gets here,” Fire Station 48 Captain Tyler Butts said. “It does take some time to purchase a fire truck for a new station.”
Kitchen
The new facility features living and training spaces, private bunk areas, gender-inclusive restrooms, private gym, outdoor patio and an indoor bay.
Currently, there is only one fire truck located within the bay. However, Butts says, as the area grows, there is space to add a second truck to Fire Station 48 in the future.
Private bunks
“This facility represents more than just a new location that we’re going to be serving our mission out of,” Dehner said.
The land Fire Station 48 was built upon was donated by the Blue Valley School District. In return for their donation, the Overland Park Fire Department agreed to assist the district with its new fire science program.
With that program, students in the district get hands-on experience with fire drills and training and can graduate high school as certified, job-ready firefighters and emergency medical technicians.
“It’s really the beginning of a strong relationship we have that’s hopefully going to feed our recruiting,” Dehner said.
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