“It was recognized several years ago that the building could no longer sustain our operations and it was going to cost too much to rehab the building and maintain that for our future operations,” said the chief.
Also, the needs of a 21st century fire station just doesn’t fit in the structure built in 1910. said fire department Capt. Isaac Sarris. The station at 651 Laurel Ave. is around 2,400 square feet and just has one frontline fire engine with three people assigned to the firehouse.
The 15,000-square-foot new Station 26 at 1790 S. Erie Blvd. (Ohio 4) will house a front-line engine and ambulance, as well provide storage for reserve vehicles that cause cramped conditions at other stations.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The new Station 26 will have a five-person crew on duty per shift, with the ability to expand as the needs, and the city of Hamilton, grow.
The station also provides improved coverage to East Hamilton, which had what Eickelberger called “an operational gap” as far as response times go after the city decommissioned Station 27 closed in 2013.
“This move helps us accommodate East Hamilton a little bit better while still being able to maintain proper service for the neighborhood of Lindenwald and what this does for our department is the morale increases with the addition of a new station, room to grow our operations as needed, and it gets us to better, more modern living accommodations for our folks.”
Lindenwald residents had voiced concerns at Hamilton City Council meetings moving the station across a set of railroad tracks. Long-time resident Frank Downie said in a February 2023 City Council meeting that he and his neighbors were “concerned” given the age of the homes that are mostly wood-framed and close to each other.
“Fire between these structures could spread very, very rapidly if it got started,” Downie had said.
Eickelberger said the location of the new station was only possible because of the South Hamilton Crossing, which provides an east-west access of the railroad tracks. The station is close to that crossing, which would add around 30 seconds to runs. However, the chief said they restructured the areas of service for each station.
Station 26, where it stands today, has the lowest number of calls of the five-station department. Station 25, which is just under 2 miles to the north on Ohio 4, is the busiest.
Station 22 on Pershing Avenue will cover more of Lindenwald with the Station 26 move. Station 25 will yield some of its coverage area to the new Station 26.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“Overall, I think this is going to reduce some of the runtimes in the areas, and it’s going to spread out the runs a little bit,” Sarris said.
Though there isn’t another capital building project for the department on the books, Eickelberger and Sarris said there is a goal of a training center behind Station 26. The city owns the land directly behind it for that goal.
“Because we don’t have our own training facilities here in town, we’ve had to go to neighboring departments and utilize their training equipment, their towers, their houses,” said Eickelerger. “With having room to grow behind the firehouse, and the ability to plan and produce our own training facility — whatever that might be, whatever the need is for us — it allows us to plan for the future and build a training facility that would further enhance our capabilities and our preparedness for the community.”
This is the second public safety department to relocate. The city is currently seeking RFPs for the former Hamilton Police Department on South Front Street. The police and municipal courts moved into the new Justice Center on South 8th Street earlier this winter. The city will post an RFP for the Laurel Avenue station after completing the move and removing equipment, furniture, and other items from the building.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
HAMILTON FIRE STATION RUNS
Hamilton has averaged must more than 14,100 fire and EMS runs from 2022 to 2024. Here is a breakdown by station and year.
Station 21, 220 N. Brookwood Ave.
2022 — 3,528
2023 — 3,379
2024 — 3,463
Station 22, 77 Pershing Ave.
2022 — 2,596
2023 — 2,292
2024 — 2,674
Station 24, 605 Main St.
2022 — 2,087
2023 — 2,096
2024 — 2,141
Station 25, 335 N. Erie Blvd.
2022 — 4,152
2023 — 3,897
2024 — 3,831
Station 26, 651 Laurel Ave.
2022 — 2,068
2023 — 2,142
2024 — 2,124
Source: city of Hamilton Fire Department
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