BYRON TWP., Mich. — Byron Center and township residents now have enhanced emergency response coverage with the opening of the township's second fire station after nearly two years of planning and construction.
The $2.4 million facility, located at 6675 Clay Ave SW, opened to address the growing population and increased call volume in Byron Township.
Fire Chief Bryan Looman said the station's first week has demonstrated the community's need for expanded coverage.
"The first day we opened, Monday, it took us 13 hours to run the first call out of this station. And today they've been leaving almost constantly to run calls, so you just never know what the day is going to bring," Looman said.
The new station addresses Byron Township's rapid growth and rising emergency call volume. The township added six new firefighters to staff the facility, which will significantly reduce response times for residents in the area.
"It helps a lot, because there's a lot of call volume along the Division Avenue corridor. So it's going to provide better coverage for this area," Looman said.
This area of Culterville was solely covered by Gaines township, but now the addition of this second station allows for quicker and better response times.
"It's gonna certainly make it quicker, a quicker response time for this area," Looman said " When you have the bigger incidents, or when we have units tied up, or Gaines has units tied up, it puts a it puts another unit closer for each other, so we can help each other out."
The fire chief expressed excitement about the project coming to fruition after years of planning.
"It's exciting. It's one of those things where, you know, a year ago, you're thinking about it, and all of a sudden here it's a reality," Looman said.
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