Fire Station 2 opens at new location after pricey cleanup

The second-busiest fire station in the state has opened under a new roof in Orlando.

Construction for Fire Station 2 was delayed last year because of unexpected contamination on the property.

The cleanup cost an extra $1 million.

The city said it expects federal tax credits to pay back some of that, but not all.

The city expects to recover less half of what it cost to clean the lot up before it built this new fire station on it.

But it’s open now, and firefighters will run about 15 calls a day from the station.

The new fire station they're working out of was built with firefighters’ health in mind.

"The livelihood of a fireman to walk out the door retired is less than 10 years (partly because of) a lot of the stresses we incur, not only in our daily jobs, but it's restless nights,” said Chris Spurlin, Orlando Fire Department district chief of emergency medical services.

Calls will ring with an ascending tone, instead of an abrupt tone.

That upgrade and a few others came at a cost to the city.

But the original property price tripled when officials found contamination issues with the soil during construction.

The lot used to be a junk yard where car parts, batteries and twisted metal were left behind.

The city had hoped to get federal tax credits to help with the cleanup.

The fire department said it expects to only get about $500,000 back and taxpayers will foot the rest of the bill.

Mayor Buddy Dyer said the location of the station, which is in the heart of Parramore, is vital because it’s the busiest spot in the entire city.

"Because we moved Fire Station 1 a little closer to Parramore, it was great to be able to move this one a little bit further to the west,” he said.

Thirty-three firefighters will work out of the new station.

Their new trucks have devices that can change the traffic signals at major intersections in the city, in order to enhance response times.

Cox Media Group