The Allen County Council delayed funding for the West Central Fire District’s new $9 million fire station until it gets more information.
At a meeting Wednesday night, the body questioned district officials about whether or not a new fire station was the best use of county dollars, instead suggesting renovating its current facilities. The decision came a day after district officials announced its plans to build the new station.
Fire district officials said they needs the new station because their current facilities were designed for volunteer firefighters , are not equipped for a full-time staff and do not have room to grow.
The West Central Fire District is one of four Allen County Fire Districts created by ordinance in December 2022, when the Allen County government consolidated its many of its volunteer township-based fire departments into fire districts, allowing them to pool resources and improve response times with full-time paid staff of firefighters and EMS crews.
The districts are controlled by boards made of members of the townships within each district. A drop in the number of those volunteering for fire services make it difficult for volunteer departments to maintain adequate staffing.
The West Central Fire District came to the County Council without going through a process to determine whether money would be best spent on a new station, a process called “scoping.”
The district will need to reach an agreement with an engineering consultant on what the process will look like.
That exploratory process is likely to take three to four months, officials said.
