Jenks begins construction of new state-of-the-art fire station

JENKS, Okla. — Jenks firefighters will soon have more space and, hopefully, faster response times.

The city broke ground on June 28 on the construction of a new state-of-the-art fire station.

The city currently has 21 firefighters and recently received a grant to hire 6 more after its current academy.

Currently, first responders are having to double their staff at the old Main Station.

Billy McCawley is a proud member of the Jenks Fire Department.

“It’s quite cramped. There are usually about six people at the station at any one time, and it gets a little cramped if volunteers come in and there's no room to sleep,” McCawley said.

At a special ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, the city presented renderings of the new station.

It is expected to be completed within a year and is expected to cost around $5 million to build.

The new facility will be two stories, 10,000 square feet and will house three large bays.

The second floor will be a living space for firefighters and will contain bedrooms, a locker room, a kitchen and an office.

The establishment will also have cancer prevention equipment.

One of the features of the new station will be a special boot washing station.

This will allow firefighters to rinse their boots and remove carcinogens they may detect at the scene of a fire.

McCawley said the city of Jenks does a great job providing them with good equipment, but this new feature would be a game-changer.

“Clean air equipment is very important because we deal with a lot of carcinogens in our equipment and we have to make sure it’s cleaned because we live with our equipment 24 hours a day,” McCawley said.

Not only will firefighters feel safer, but it is hoped that city residents will feel safer as well.

“This means we can continue to be the safest city in the state of Oklahoma because we will have the rapid response time every family wants when an emergency situation occurs in your home,” said Heather Turner, president of the Jenks Chamber of Commerce.

The city said it anticipates an increase in emergency calls with more residents moving into Jenks as well as more visitors.

Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere —