Transition to station near complete

To truly understand the inner workings of the new Morton Fire Department headquarters on Courtland Avenue, one would have to see for themselves. But, perhaps nobody knows the station better than Morton Fire Department Chief Joe Kelley.

He has been involved in the planning, construction and transitional phases of the new station since day one.

“Those original plans look nothing like what we built,” Kelley said of the first drawings for the station.

Kelley seems comfortable in his new office. Though the fire department is now fully operational in the new facility, he will admit there is still a lot of work that has to be done.

“We’re still trying to work out the bugs,” he said.

The kinks have been minor, he added. That is largely due to the amount of intensive oversight by the village, the department and its staff of paramedics and volunteer firefighters.

The more than $4 million facility was built more for the future of the village than the now. But, the benefits the new station offers will improve the service residents are currently receiving.

The new Morton Fire Department headquarters is, to say the least, an intelligent facility. “Intelligent” was a word used more than once by Kelley as he led a tour through the building.

Along with the facility’s intelligence comes efficiency — a streamline of rescue operations. The new headquarters is designed to get paramedics and firefighters out the doors in less time.

No more stairs — everybody is seemingly located on the first floor, with the second floor serving more as a storage area. When a call comes in, firefighters and paramedics can be in their gear and ready to go in a shorter period of time than at the Adams Street station. The living-quarters are located just outside the department apparatus and completely separate from the administrative and training areas within the building.

The locker area, which did not exist in the former building, is self-ventilating. When firefighters return from a call and remove their gear, vents will suck up any contaminants out of the locker room. The apparatus bay, where the trucks are stationed, is also self-ventilating. A carbon monoxide monitor will kick open the vents and release poisonous air out of the facility.

The apparatus is not air conditioned. Instead, large fans and vents keep cool air circulating within the bay. During the winter, the floor is heated by water pipes installed beneath the surface to keep the apparatus bay warm.

Energy efficiency was a major focus for the fire department, Kelley said. Geothermal systems were tested, but planners found that the return on investment from such a system would take too long. So, the department used a variety of methods to keep the station well lit.

“By using natural light, it is an energy-efficient method to keeping the building lighted,” Kelley said. Large windows in the front lobby illuminate the inside, eliminating the need for lights during the day.

Several of the rooms within the department have motion sensors that will automatically turn lights on when a person enters and eventually turn the lights off when a person has left.

The new training room includes several large screens to display videos, staff statuses — a screen will literally display where staff are during a call — and more. The training room provides many of the amenities that, previously, the department had to outsource to receive. This will help cut training costs within the department. Particularly for a department that trains at least once a week, the investment in such technology will help reduce costs in the future, Kelley said.

Also installed were interactive displays, similar to those installed in District 709 classrooms.

“(Interactive displays) allow us to teach in a modern way,” Kelley said.

Trainees will be able to fight “virtual” fires through using the technology, Kelley added.

To see an entire tour of the Morton Fire Department facility, visit mortontimesnews.com and select the “Fire Department Tour” video on Thursday.