Maple Grove Fire Station One Continues Expansion

Maple Grove’s Fire Station One is growing.

The scaffolding is up and crews are laying concrete blocks and mortar for the expansion of Station One—one of the five stations part of the .

Maple Grove Fire Chief Scott Anderson said although construction is underway, it’s business as usual for firefighters.

“It’s a little dusty, but we are still open and running to fire calls,” Anderson said.

The original fire station was built back in 1974 and as the population has increased over the years, there have been upgrades. In 1989, the station got a face lift and was remodeled to get the station up to date. With the city growing, Anderson said they have to grow to keep up.

“The crews have been working hard and we are hoping for an August completion date,” said Anderson.

Next door at Erik’s Bike Shop, Store Manager Mike Burger said the construction has not been invasive.

“I feel better knowing they are expanding and still providing the best support needed for our city,” Burger said.

The process for the Fire Station One expansion started last year when the city asked and received multiple bids from several companies throughout the state. Initial estimates anticipated the project costs would exceed $1 million, but the winning bid came in for much less.

“We were pleased to accept a bid from Kue Construction under our projected budget. We received bids ranging from $600,000 to $880,000,” Anderson said.

Efficiency and additional space were a few of the reasons the expansion project moved forward.

“Number one was efficiency. We needed to get up to code, update the sprinkler system, drains and be energy efficient as well,” Anderson said.

Efficiency might have been the number one for the expansion, but building a home for the newest member of the fighting team came in a close second. Once the addition is completed, the 100-foot ladder truck with bucket will be able to fit inside Station One. Prior to the expansion, the building wasn’t big enough to fit the family of trucks inside.

“We needed a third parking spot for our newest truck which can pump out 2,000 gallons of water in 60 seconds,” Anderson said. “We needed this new, big truck due to all the new apartment buildings, shopping areas like Arbor Lakes and new buildings like the hospital.”

Having such powerful equipment eases fear among neighboring businesses.

Dr. Lori Tenenbaum at Cedar Island Chiropractic Clinic has been a neighbor near Fire Station One for the last 26 years. She said she would only be concerned if it wasn’t expanding.

“To see them expanding means they are keeping up with the increase of growth of businesses and population,” Tenenbaum said. “I rest better knowing they are updating their technical needs to do the job right.”

 Anderson said the expansion is all that is on the books for now. 

“We don’t expect any other build outs, Maple Grove is completely covered,” he said. “We won’t even need any other new trucks for another six years.”

But the Maple Grove Fire Department is in need of men and women interested in becoming paid-on-call firefighters. Maple Grove residents who live near one of the five fire stations in the city and are available during the daytime hours are invited to apply. No prior training needed.