Ann Arbor nearing completion on city's first new fire station in 45 years

Ann Arbor's newest fire station is nearing completion, the first since 1981.

Station 4 is replacing the outdated one built on the same site way back in 1966. It will be the first Net-Zero fire station in Michigan.

"It's really going to create a good environment for our on-duty firefighters," said Fire Chief Mike Kennedy.

Station 4 will also be the city's first carbon-neutral facility by using solar and geothermal energy for power.

"There's a lot of factors that will really operate in the background without the firefighters even knowing what is going on for the power demands," Kennedy said.

The new fire station will be more inclusive than its predecessor, which was built before Ann Arbor had female firefighters on staff.

"There's absolutely no men's and women's facilities. It's a bedroom. It's a bathroom. No matter who's on that day, they can use that, and on one of the shifts, we do have one of our assigned female firefighters," Kennedy said.

Kennedy says the project is more than just replacing the outdated fire station that once stood there. It's paving the way for future fire stations in Michigan.

"We actually have two additional fire stations in Ann Arbor that need to be replaced. This is certainly not the exact design, but maybe some of the design elements we plan to incorporate into future buildings," he said.

Kennedy says they're hoping to have Station 4 operational by October.