EDISON — The Edison Volunteer Fire Department is building its second fire station in the rural Eastern Colorado town. They hope it will help cut down on long response times and even save nearby homeowners money on their insurance.
"It's not that busy out here as you can see, pretty remote, pretty rural. But when the big fires do happen, it does suck a lot of resources out of the entire community and entire area," said Edison Volunteer FD Public Information Officer Mark Hamilton.
The second station in Edison will be nearly 5 thousand square feet, allowing the department to store its 8 firetruck units. As of now, volunteers have to drive those trucks back and forth between the station and their homes.
"Seconds save lives when it comes to public safety," continued Hamilton.
The new station will also hold a 30-thousand-gallon water tanker to hold fire-suppressing water, doubling the current supply in town. This will stop firefighters from having to travel back and forth between any fires quicker.
"Having the ability to have the station here adds the ability to have water closer when there is a fire, and it also allows us to be able to come here a lot faster and refill versus going to Ellicott or somewhere else," said Hamilton.
The station will also help nearby homeowners with their home insurance premiums since those costs are tied to the nearest fire station to your property.
"Our what's called an ISO rating is going to increase, so it's ultimately going to lower insurance premiums and insurance costs to our community," continued Hamilton.
Dave Eastin is the Superintendent of the Edison School District and says Edison is quite a remote area.
"If you like cattle and tumbleweeds, this is the place to come," says Eastin.
Eastin is excited for the opportunity to have another fire station in the community. He hopes it could even save lives in dire situations.
"We're at [the fire department's] whim on where they are in the county, so we're at least 15 to 20 minutes away... and that's on a good day".
That station is set to complete construction at the end of August. If you would like to volunteer with the Edison Volunteer Fire Department, you can call 719-892-0263.
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