Mansfield Fire Station No. 5 almost ready to roll

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By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Residents on Mansfield’s southeast side will soon be seeing a lot more of the city’s firefighters – and a lot faster.

Mansfield’s Fire Station No. 5 is set to be up and running this month at the corner of National Parkway and South Holland Road, next door to Elizabeth Smith Elementary School.

“The closest station is No. 3 and I think we’re above eight minutes (in response time to this area),” said Mansfield Fire Chief Mike Ross. “This will bring response time to less than five minutes.”

The 11,927-square-foot station cost $5.1 million to build, paid for by selling bonds, and will house a ladder truck, ambulance, brush truck, inflatable water rescue boat, reserve engine and reserve ambulance.

The station is already fully staffed with 15 full-time firefighter/paramedics, five for each of three shifts.

Ross calls the handsome red-brick facility “a legacy building that’s going to be here for 25 to 30 years, or longer.”

The station is designed with work rooms on one side and living quarters on the other. On the work side, there’s a storage room for gear, an extractor room to wash the gear and a workout room.

On the other side are nine separate bedrooms (instead of the usually dormitory style), plus two locker rooms and shower areas, one for males and another for females. Even though each shift only has five firefighters, the extra rooms allow the station to over-staff for occasions like February’s Snowmageddon.

There’s also a large kitchen and living area, plus three pantries, one for each shift. Firefighters work 24-hour shifts, then have 48 hours off. Each shift buys its own food and stores it in their pantry.

Mansfield, and the fire department, have been waiting for the new station for a long time.

“It’s been in the making for 1 ½ to 2 years,” Ross said. “We got hammered by Snowmageddon, COVID, rain, every disaster.”

The results will be worth it, he promises.

“We’re putting a firetruck and ambulance in close proximity to this area, which they don’t currently have,” Ross said. “Every firefighter/paramedic can offer everything on a firetruck that we can with an ambulance, except transport.”

The fire department promises to hold a grand opening for the public to get a look at the new station as soon as they are up and running.

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