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COLVER -- Though it is 25 years later than expected, the Cambria Township Volunteer Fire Company will have a new station.
First responders broke ground Monday for a 4,900-square-foot addition to the current fire station on Reese Avenue, Colver, and firefighters said the new facility will help them better serve the community.
"After all the hoops we've jumped through, it really is amazing to finally be able to do this," said Greg Verbosky, who is a member of the Cambria Township Volunteer Fire Company and chairman of the building committee. "This project has been ongoing in phases for nearly 30 years. It's great that we can finally get started."
The new facility will cost the fire department $643,000, with the entirety of the project being funded in-house.
Cambria Township Fire Chief Geoff Pablic said the project, which is being built by MD Sleppy Construction Group, is estimated to take six to eight months to complete.
The current fire station was built in 1972. Small renovations and additions were made in the 1990s, Pablic said.
Department officials said the goal was to build the new station in 1998, but several financial and operational hurdles delayed the project.
"The design of our new building has pretty much been done since 1998," Pablic said. "All of the doors in our current station are configured in a way to someday move into this brand new addition. This has really been in the works for
25 years."
First responders said the highlight of the new station is how it will impact the department from an operational standpoint.
The current station has just two bay doors, but the department has four working pieces of apparatus that are crammed inside.
Due to limited space in the station, first responders have to shuffle fire trucks in and out of the building, which has delayed firefighters responding to an emergency.
The new station will feature an individual bay door for each piece of apparatus, and officials said it should rapidly increase response times.
"That has slowed down response times, and those are precious minutes being wasted," Pablic said. "The faster response times is one of the most exciting parts of this, and we won't have to jockey apparatus around anymore."
The new station will also provide more space for routine truck maintenance and hose packing, which Pablic said previously had to be done outside.
Other perks of the new building include a dedicated space for self-contained breathing apparatus maintenance and additional storage.
"It's just going to be a better all-around environment for us to work in," Pablic said.
The apparatus bay at the current station will eventually be transitioned into a social hall.
Several community members and first responders from throughout the county were in attendance to celebrate the project getting underway.
"These guys have worked long and hard, and they're a top-notch organization," Cambria Township Chairman Supervisor Tim Bracken said. "This is going to make it a lot easier for them to maintain their equipment and do what they have to do to serve the community."
Mirror Staff Writer Calem Illig is at 814-946-7535.