$1.4M expansion expected to help Zoneton Fire respond to emergencies faster

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A $1.4 million expansion at Zoneton's Fire Station Two will help them get to emergencies faster.

Right now, the station has four firetruck bays. But new construction will remove one and add two more on the other side of the building.

"These will be the two new bays here. They'll take over that current parking lot," Zoneton Fire Chief Kevin Moulton said.

The bay they are losing will be used to expand the interior of the station for personnel, adding a new lounge for firefighters, updates to the kitchen and a specific place for firefighting gear.

"And then upstairs, we'll have seven dorms," Moulton said.

Zoneton Fire Station 2 expansion plans.jpeg — Zoneton Fire Chief Kevin Moulton shows WDRB News the plans for a $1.4 million expansion project for the district's Station Two on Aug. 31, 2022. (WDRB photo)

The station has about six volunteer firefighters right now.

"They've gotta work. Sometimes, they've gotta work two, sometimes three jobs," said Moulton. "They've got families, they've got kids' sports and kids' events. So it's a struggle these days for volunteers and we get it, we get it."

With everyone being so busy, sometimes they can't make it to emergencies when there's a call.

"I don't want the community to think we're ever unprotected," Moulton said. "We have mutual aid agencies that surround us."

The time it takes for the firefighters to get from Station One to an area that Station Two would cover could be between 10-12 minutes, and in the event of an emergency, every minute counts.

That's why they're looking to hire more firefighters to have an engine staffed 24-hours a day at Station Two.

A fully-staffed engine is four firefighters.

"The faster we can get to somebody's residence on their emergency, on the worst day of their lives, it's the better we're gonna feel, the better we can contain and mitigate the incident that's going on," Moulton said.

With the community growing at the rate it has been, Moulton said the number of back-to-back calls coming into the station have increased, and it's time to bring in reinforcements. The station has seen as many as seven back-to-back calls a month and two triple calls a month.

"Enough is enough, and we've got to get better protection for the Zoneton community," he said.

Construction work will not interrupt any emergency calls community members have. The hope is to have everything up and running by the start of next year.