Two decades after planning began, the fire department for the Y-12 National Security Complex has moved into its brand-new station, site officials said in a recent statement.
Construction began in the spring of 2021 after 20 years of discussion and planning, according to a post on the site’s blog. When visiting the new Y-12 Fire Station in January, National Nuclear Security Administration head Jill Hruby described it as “a model construction project for NNSA and the Nuclear Security Enterprise.”
Although announced just Wednesday, the department moved into the new station on July 24, when the station became fully operational.
“The new facility will improve our department’s ability to serve the plant and our community,” said Fire Chief James Arnold. “The upgraded firehouse will not only improve the working environment for our firefighters but also their lifestyle as it will allow us to transition to a more traditional firefighter schedule. It will also house better and more effective equipment.”
Arnold said the old fire station building, built in the 1940s, expanded in the 1960s and again in the 1980s, had issues that made it an untenable base for the department.
“We’ve had to live with some rough conditions for a while,” said Y-12 Fire Department Captain Mike Jeffries, a 17-year veteran of Y-12. “How do I feel about the move to our new fire hall? I’m happy.”
The new fire station is one of two NNSA pilot projects at Y-12 designed to streamline the efficiency and delivery of construction projects under $50 million. The second project was the newly constructed Emergency Operations Center.
