Great Lakes fire station gets much needed repairs

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Brigitte Johnston | GREAT LAKES, Ill. (Sept. 29, 2022) A photo of the newly-renovated BLDG 2801, Naval Station Great Lakes' second fire station for the Great Lakes Fire & Emergency Services. In the past year, Great Lakes Fire & Emergency Services responded to 2,500 calls, protecting a population of 25,000 service members, civilians, and their families, with only 40 of 49 billets occupied. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brigitte Johnston)  

GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES

09.29.2022

Story by John Sheppard 

Naval Station Great Lakes

GREAT LAKES, Ill. - The Great Lakes Public Works Department spent much of the summer renovating Naval Station Great Lakes Fire Station 2, located in Bldg. 2801 on the corner of Ray Street and Buckley Road, near the recruit training side of the installation.
The renovations started on July 10 and were nearly complete when firefighters moved back into the station on Sep. 9.
“Thanks to the hard work of NAVFAC employees and the ability of fire personnel to adapt and move houses this project was able to be done in a timely manner and further prevented any lost time of fire apparatus from responding from station 2,” said Capt. Matthew Todd, Great Lakes Fire & Emergency Services.
“While the fire department was out of station 2, our response times took a slight hit. But as this was only temporary we are back to responding in less than five minutes to emergencies west of the ‘tracks,’” Todd added, referring to the area west of the railroad tracks that cross Buckley Road near Ray Street.
Great Lakes firefighters quickly responded to a fire at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, the joint Department of Defense and Veterans Administration hospital in North Chicago that services both area veterans and area service members, shortly after moving back into the renovated fire station on Sep. 21. They quickly doused the fire, started in some mulch outside the building.
The building renovations were all accomplished by public works shops, according to Lt. Joshua Rivera, assistant public works officer. This included installing a new floor drain, painting and sealing the apparatus bay, modifications to the kitchen, the kitchen exhaust system, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, berthing areas and roof. All of the work cost a little over $135,000.
“The apparatus bay floor was refinished and drainage vents were placed on the north wall to prevent water from entering into the north living spaces. This will help with deterioration of doors and sill plates,” Todd said. “They replaced door sills and frames that have been damaged due to water issues. The HVAC system was updated with dampeners to assist with moving A/C and heat from certain spaces so that the south side of the building is more uniformly heated and cooled. Before this was done one room would be extremely cold in the summer months and extremely hot in the winter months. This also meant that other spaces were the opposite as the air seemed to flow different.”
The past year, Great Lakes Fire & Emergency Services responded to 2,500 calls, protecting a population of 25,000 service members, civilians and their families, with only 40 of 49 billets occupied.

• Date Taken: 09.29.2022
• Date Posted: 09.29.2022 10:18
• Story ID: 430355
• Location: GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US