The Marion City Council has approved the $1 million purchase of just over 5 acres in northern Marion for the site of the cities third fire station. The Marion Fire Department has been calling for a third station to be built since a survey in 2015 found that the department's performance was "less than satisfactory."

The third fire station will help with response times to emergency calls, especially to the north side of Marion. That is the part of the city that is growing the fastest. Marion fire chief Deb Krebill says that "life and death can depend on seconds, and seconds count." According to statistics from the National Fire Protection Agency, a city should have one fire station per 10,000 residents. Marion has around 40,000 and only two fire stations.

City leaders agreed that adding a third fire station will improve response times for residents in northern Marion. But they also stressed that it's an important public safety issue for the whole city, and will improve the quality of life for all citizens in Marion.

 

[via CBS2]

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