FEMA to pay for new CR Central Fire Department

CEDAR RAPIDS - FEMA has decided to pay for Cedar Rapids to replace its flood-damaged Central Fire Station. You'll remember the water reached twelve feet inside the building. The Central Fire Station served as the fire command for Cedar Rapids and provided living and training space for firefighters. Now Cedar Rapids' Central Fire Station has become a boarded-up, hollow, empty shell of a building.

The building sits in the 100-year-flood-plain, so Chief Havlik says it's unlikely the city will rebuild here. Now, the challenge is to find another location that's both centrally located and meets the department's needs, “Probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense to rebuild back here. If you look at the surrounding neighborhood, a lot of these homes will be gone. A lot of green space around here.”

Firefighters have been using a nearby temporary location for about a year. But, the building lacks many special features of a traditional fire station that make it easier for firefighters to respond quickly.

Chief Havlik says, “This will be an opportunity to built it bigger, nicer, better, more efficient, more effective, more responsive to the citizens.”

Even before the flood, the department had outgrown the building. Now, firefighters have the chance to build a station that could serve the city for decades to come.

Chief Havlik says it will likely cost at least five to seven million dollars and take several years to plan and build a new station. But, again, FEMA will cover ninety-percent of that cost and the state of Iowa will pay for the rest.

-By Mark Geary, KCRG-TV9 News