Welcome to the Neighborhood Fire Station 3

Welcome to the Neighborhood

Fire Station 3

by: Jessica Wedge

There has been some change recently in the neighborhood. No, it’s not the newly opened driving range on Renner and it’s not Frankie’s changing their name, although those are very exciting bits of change. It’s the fire station - and like many new houses in our neighborhood, it’s bigger, brighter, and we all drive by it slowly wanting to get a glimpse of the inside. While we can’t attend a grand opening party (yet), you can count on me to tell you everything I thought would be cool to know about Fire Station 3.

Curtis Poovey, the Richardson Fire Department Fire Chief, started his career in Rowlett in 1986 as a reserve. He stayed there until 1993 when he was transferred to Richardson and started to work his way up to chief in January 2017. When the city of Richardson introduced the bond program in 2015, it was decided that the new fire station for district three would be included in the program. The original plan was

just for a remodel, but after taking a hard look at the north side of the city and the activity in the area, it was a quick conclusion that the old lot was just too small. With the quick growth and expansion of UTD, City Line and the technology center, and the neighborhood, they knew they would need more resources and a larger space to grow into over the next 50 years.

When you plan to move, or dream of building a home, or you tell a child they’re moving into a larger house, the overall feeling is excitement. I asked Chief Poovey if the staff at the fire station had the same feeling when they learned they would be getting a new space. “The crew was really excited. The old Fire Station Three had been around long before anyone that currently works here came here. It was a bit of history and some folks really liked that…it had been their home for years…you get attached to it like your home and you never want to leave in some cases. But it had a lot of problems and so the chance to get a new station is just like getting a new house - the air quality is much better, it’s clean, it’s nice, it’s aesthetically pleasing, it has all up-to-date furnishing, so they were excited.”

After analyzing, researching and looking into locations to put the new fire station that would benefit the area, ultimately, they decided the best place to build the new Fire Station 3 was right across the street from the old one - lucky us! The City of Richardson, the Richardson Fire Department, and VR Architects all worked together to design and build the new station. Knowing that size was such an important need, they increased the apparatus by adding another bay (translation: they made the garage bigger to fit another truck). They also added enough bedrooms and bathrooms to accommodate 10 people; created a large dayroom and kitchen to fit three full pantries (refrigerators, freezers, and shelving for all three shifts) a fully-serviced gym, and two officer bedroom suites for the captain’s. Each bedroom has a twin bed with three separate closets and a desk. Three people are assigned to the bedroom for each of their 24-hour shifts and each person is responsible for their own bedding and laundry.

The art sculpture, that I’m sure you’ve seen in front of the station, was designed by RE:Site Studio after a team of people, some from the fire station, some from the neighborhood, some from the city, and others, collaborated on what they envisioned. Titled “Flow”, the sculpture symbolizes water shooting out of a vintage, brass fire hose nozzle. The sculpture is part of the City’s Public Art Master Plan.

Now, it’s time for the fun stuff. The information that we all want to know. I’ve seen you all taking peeks in their grocery carts and at the check-out aisles in Tom Thumb, but you don’t need to wonder or worry any more - these guys know how to cook. “Some crews have a dedicated cook who cooks most of the time, and some guys on other crews take turns,” Chief Poovey explained. The kitchen is fully-supplied with everything needed to cook the meals, from spices to utensils. The station has a predetermined food fund and every day, every fire fighter will contribute a set amount of money to that food fund. Then the “cook” will plan out the meals and go to Tom Thumb to get the food that they’ll need for the day. Chief Poovey laughed at the idea of our curious neighbors and confirmed, “We get hit up at the store a lot, like, ‘What are we buying you today?’ But we take care of that ourselves, we feed ourselves. All the food is purchased by the fire fighters.” With the fully-functioning, extra large kitchen and the large back patio space with the grill, they have plenty of chances to experiment with new recipes or pull out one of their classic staples. So if you see smoke coming from behind the fire station, don’t worry. They’re just grilling…and if they’re not I think they’ll have it under control, anyway.

With a new shiny fire station and a full-day on shift, you can’t help but wonder what is going on on the other side of the big red doors. “It depends on the crew and the age of the crew, but there’s so many things that go on in the station that you don’t hear about,” Chief Poovey explained, and my interest was piqued. The new fire station came with an excellent, fully-functioning gym area as well as plenty of room outside for exercising when the weather is nice. Many of the guys are enrolled in online college, as well, and a lot of their downtime is spent studying or keeping up with their required 20-hour per month training and continual education in the field. On top of all of that, there are building inspections, staying updated with protocols, always knowing changes to local buildings for safely entering, studying for promotions, cleaning and maintaining the firehouse and equipment, actually fighting fires, AND they still have to plan dinner. Whew, I thought I had busy days. So when they do have downtime from their “downtime”, there is the occasional Netflix binging and card game, but those are few and far in between.

As my conversation with Chief Poovey was coming to an end, there were a few things I absolutely needed to know and I knew my neighbors were interested in as well. Yes, firefighters do secretly enjoy soapy shows about firefighters, but mostly to make fun of them. They do get Firehouse Subs catered frequently for events or meetings, because “...they have great sandwiches!” And finally, no show socks are the way to go and definitely plastic over paper, probably because it won’t burn as fast.

When I asked him if there was anything Fire Station 3 needed from the neighborhood, Chief Poovey proudly said, “Just the support. We are very blessed with our city and that the city provides us with what we need. So your support is great.”