DAYTON — A fire station in Dayton will be getting some upgrades to help make the space safer for both men and women.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, Dayton Fire Department Chief Mike Rice said the buildings need renovations.
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“We’re a much more gender-diverse department than we ever were before, right now about 13% to 14% (female employees),” Rice said.
There are almost no private sleeping rooms in Dayton firehouses, or separate men’s and women’s restroom facilities.
The firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics here work 24-hour shifts.
“They sleep here, they eat here, they work out there, they do laundry there, coming back from calls, so we want to modernize and put some added safety and health benefits in there,” Rice said.
“It’s very practical,” Lynn Phillips Birchhill said.
She believes updating facilities allows the city to recruit firefighters from the entire workforce, not just 50%.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing, that’s a wonderful reason to update your facility,” she said.
Dayton City Commissioners just approved about $1.6 million for the first upgrades at Station 15 on Wayne Avenue.
Plans are already in the works for more renovations at three other stations. None of the facilities is less than 40 years old, and some are 60 to 70 years old.
Upgrades will also include better ventilation and protection against contact with hazardous materials, and even small climate protection.
“We’ll be adding a nice radiant heat to the bays, so that way, the apparatus won’t have to worry about freezing up, especially times like now when it’s so cold,” Rice said.
Interior reconstruction could begin in the next several weeks.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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