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Construction progress is rapid at new fire, ambulance center
Vigilant building chairman ‘can’t believe’ development pace
By DALE HEBERLIG
Managing Editor
A dozen or more emergency service members filtered through the maze of metal framework in a soon-to-be-headquarters Sunday in what has become a weekly ritual for Vigilant Hose Co. and Shippensburg Area EMS members flush with anticipation of a new home.
Stacks of drywall waited in each of the rooms that are partitioned by metal “studs,” giving the interior of the new emergency service a mazelike feel, but building committee chairman Ken Nehf easily indentified, kitchens, laundry rooms, bunk areas, meeting rooms, a fitness room and other amenities during the tour.
Stacks of drywall waited in each of the rooms that are partitioned by metal “studs,” giving the interior of the new emergency service a mazelike feel, but building committee chairman Ken Nehf easily indentified, kitchens, laundry rooms, bunk areas, meeting rooms, a fitness room and other amenities during the tour.
Nehf says he’s been doing the Sunday tour for months, taking pictures of the progress of the previous week and posting the views to the Vigilant’s website.
Company President Danny Byers, “We’ve been coming here to take a look ever since there was something to look at.”
The facility will house both the fire company and ambulance provider – essentially one service on each level with some shared space of both floors.
By now images of an operational emergency center are clear in Nehf’s mind’s eye.
As he points out a ground-level storage area nearly the size of the current fire company apparatus parking area, Nehf marvels at the size of a an enormous back-up generator at the rear of the structure at the intersection of Orange Street and Walnut Bottom Road.
“Just the size of that blows my mind,” he says.
At the core of the new building is a gaping open space with five gaping overhead doors at each end. It’s here that the Vigilant Hose Co. apparatus will await dispatch – 10 parking bays with a ceiling so far overhead that the rigs’ hoods will be able to tipped forward for maintenance access.
With doors at each end of the engine room for in-and-out access, the other two sides of the room are bordered by second story decks – offices that overlook the engine room on one side and a variety of uses on the opposite. On the utility side is a window positioned at second story height that will be used for training. Inside the window is a manhole that can be used for rescue training drills.
“They’re just a couple of things we decided to throw in, “ Nehf says.
The building is approaching weather-tight status, with a portion of roof yet to be shingled, a few windows left to be installed and permanent doors still to be put in place.
Nehf and Byers agree that progress inside the huge shell will quicken soon, spreading to the second level where partitions are not yet in place in the space that will be used largely by the ambulance company that is a partner in the construction project.
SAEMS spokeswoman Heather Franzoni was getting her first look at the progress Sunday.
She says ambulance personnel are eager to relocate from the old cramped space in a former row house they’ve occupied since 2006 when the basic ambulance provider split with CV Hose Co. and were “adopted” by the Vigilant Hose Co.
“Our people are excited,” Franzoni said. “We’re still scraping snow and ice off the windows of our ambulances, hitting our heads on ceilings when we go to store something and sleeping in chairs because there are no bunk rooms.”
When complete, the new station will provide 10 apparatus bays – ample room for five SAEMS ambulances and assorted utility vehicles that have been parked outdoors for five years.
The station sis scheduled to be complete by early spring, about nine months after the start date.
“I can’t believe where we’re at,” Nehf says, “Even when I look at the pictures, I don’t believe it.”
The new headquarters building is on the site of the former University Lodge Motel, where fire destroyed the business about 10 years ago. Vigilant officials acquired the site through a purchases expedited by eminent domain proceedings launched by the Borough of Shippensburg and Cumberland County officials.
Byers says the Vigilant operation centers around roughly 45 active members and 30-35 firefighters than run calls. The company responded to more than 500 calls in 2010, with an average turnout of 9 firefighters for each call.
Company President Danny Byers, “We’ve been coming here to take a look ever since there was something to look at.”
The facility will house both the fire company and ambulance provider – essentially one service on each level with some shared space of both floors.
By now images of an operational emergency center are clear in Nehf’s mind’s eye.
As he points out a ground-level storage area nearly the size of the current fire company apparatus parking area, Nehf marvels at the size of a an enormous back-up generator at the rear of the structure at the intersection of Orange Street and Walnut Bottom Road.
“Just the size of that blows my mind,” he says.
At the core of the new building is a gaping open space with five gaping overhead doors at each end. It’s here that the Vigilant Hose Co. apparatus will await dispatch – 10 parking bays with a ceiling so far overhead that the rigs’ hoods will be able to tipped forward for maintenance access.
With doors at each end of the engine room for in-and-out access, the other two sides of the room are bordered by second story decks – offices that overlook the engine room on one side and a variety of uses on the opposite. On the utility side is a window positioned at second story height that will be used for training. Inside the window is a manhole that can be used for rescue training drills.
“They’re just a couple of things we decided to throw in, “ Nehf says.
The building is approaching weather-tight status, with a portion of roof yet to be shingled, a few windows left to be installed and permanent doors still to be put in place.
Nehf and Byers agree that progress inside the huge shell will quicken soon, spreading to the second level where partitions are not yet in place in the space that will be used largely by the ambulance company that is a partner in the construction project.
SAEMS spokeswoman Heather Franzoni was getting her first look at the progress Sunday.
She says ambulance personnel are eager to relocate from the old cramped space in a former row house they’ve occupied since 2006 when the basic ambulance provider split with CV Hose Co. and were “adopted” by the Vigilant Hose Co.
“Our people are excited,” Franzoni said. “We’re still scraping snow and ice off the windows of our ambulances, hitting our heads on ceilings when we go to store something and sleeping in chairs because there are no bunk rooms.”
When complete, the new station will provide 10 apparatus bays – ample room for five SAEMS ambulances and assorted utility vehicles that have been parked outdoors for five years.
The station sis scheduled to be complete by early spring, about nine months after the start date.
“I can’t believe where we’re at,” Nehf says, “Even when I look at the pictures, I don’t believe it.”
The new headquarters building is on the site of the former University Lodge Motel, where fire destroyed the business about 10 years ago. Vigilant officials acquired the site through a purchases expedited by eminent domain proceedings launched by the Borough of Shippensburg and Cumberland County officials.
Byers says the Vigilant operation centers around roughly 45 active members and 30-35 firefighters than run calls. The company responded to more than 500 calls in 2010, with an average turnout of 9 firefighters for each call.
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