The Aug. 8 fire hose-uncoupling ceremony for the Central Fire Station marks a new chapter for Prosper and its fire department as it is expected to shorten emergency response times to the town’s center and serve as a hub for emergency operations as the town continues to grow.
“This is an incredible building, and we could not be prouder of the result,” Fire Chief Stuart Blasingame said.
Zooming out
Located at 911 Safety Way, the more than 30,080-square-foot station was designed to hold the fire station on the ground floor and all of its fire administration, Blasingame said.
It can also accommodate a truck company, an engine company, an ambulance, brush trucks and a battalion chief.
“This state-of-the-art facility will stand as a beacon of public safety for generations to come,” Mayor David Bristol said.
The station’s other features include:
- A dual-purpose executive conference room and emergency operations center
- The fire marshal’s office
- A fitness facility
- Sleeping quarters for up to 13 firefighters
- Four pull-through apparatus bays and two additional apparatus bays
- A 9/11 memorial museum for the public
“We've come to realize it would be selfish for us to permanently mount our steel beam because it would no longer be used for its intention, and that was to bring remembrance to September the 11th,” he said.
The breakdown
Funding for the Central Fire Station came from a November 2020 bond program, which allocated $210 million for a public safety complex.
Construction on the Central Fire Station began Feb. 11, 2022, but designing and planning for the station started years earlier, Bristol said.
“I'm proud to say that even with all the challenges we had, thanks to the partnerships with our architect and construction company, this station opened on time and under budget,” Blasingame said.
Also of note
Less than 10 minutes after opening, firefighters were dispatched to an emergency.
“That’s the example—they do a better job of servicing people [with] much faster customer response time now,” Bristol said.
