BARDSTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- The city of Bardstown is preparing to open a new, multimillion-dollar fire station within in the coming weeks.
It's a new beginning for the city fire department, which has outgrown the current space it shares with city hall. Paint cans and construction equipment linger, but to Chief Billy Mattingly, those are signs he's close to the finish line.
"It's been a long process," he said.
Renovations on the building started about a year ago. It was a total gut and remodel, but the new facility was badly needed when compared to the department's current firehouse.
"Where we're at right now, we are just so cramped up," Mattingly said. "We have no office space, no storage space. The ceiling height for the trucks is so low that we can only buy a type of fire trucks."
Full-time firefighters and volunteers are crammed in the old station, living and working in close quarters. Firetrucks were packed in to small garage bays.
But the new building has plenty of space for everyone. It features a much larger kitchen, a locker room for equipment and an entire sleeping wing with six bedrooms and four bathrooms. The extra space will allow firefighters to rest up and clean up after fighting fires without feeling crowded.
Mattingly said the new station will also have a big impact on community safety.
"The city of Bardstown has grown so much," he said. "In order to provide a good service to the people with quick response times, we needed a second location."
The location will allow firefighters to shave anywhere from five to seven minutes off response times in that end of the city. The other station will stay in operation, so the department has essentially split the city in half.
Shaving that much time off of response times can make a huge difference in an emergency, when every second counts.
"A fire doubles in size about every 30 seconds," Mattingly said, noting that the sooner firefighters arrive on scene the better chance they have of containing the fire and stopping it from spreading to other areas.
The department also has training buildings on site and plenty of room to expand as the community it serves continues to grow.
"We're getting nothing but great feedback from the citizens of Bardstown," Mattingly said.
Mattingly hopes to start moving things into the new building next week after a final construction walk-through Monday.
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