The Town of Normal’s new Fire Station 2 located on Normal's east side at Hershey and Shepard roads is officially online.
The old station 2 at College Avenue and Blair Drive was retired Thursday after nearly 45 years of service.
Town officials plan to present data at Monday’s town council meeting to discuss how the relocation could impact emergency medical response times. That's been a point of contention with the Normal firefighters union.
Normal IAFF Local 2442 has repeatedly claimed in town hall settings and at town council meetings that closing the College Avenue station would negatively impact response times and urged the council to keep it open after the new eastside station came online. Union members also claim certain populations of the town would be left vulnerable, including children and seniors.
Now, the town will make its argument with its own collection of data that says times will not be negatively impacted. Technology Director Vasudha Gadhiraju and her team also will be at the meeting to share how the town collected and evaluated its data, according to documents prepared for the council.
The fact sheet the town posted online, said in 2024, the Normal Fire Department responded to 8,061 calls with an average response time of 4:28 minutes; 61% of calls were reached in under 4 minutes, and 82% were under 6 minutes.
Per the McLean County Area EMS System Policy Manual, the town said the department should respond to emergency calls within 4 to 6 minutes, 90% of the time.
The union disagrees with the town’s standard for response times, saying it is meant for rural, volunteer fire departments. The union has said in order to meet the National Fire Protection Association’s standard of one engine on scene by 240 seconds [4 minutes], the town would need to keep both the old station open along with the new one, and hire additional apparatus.
The town has reiterated there are only two ways in which the union’s requests could be met: a 134% property tax increase or a 70% sales tax increase.
“While the town could pursue this level of expansion, it is not currently necessary. Keeping the College/Blair station open would require adding 18 firefighters, a new engine and an additional ambulance,” the town said in its fact sheet.
“Relocating Station #2 to Hershey/Shepard Roads will more evenly distribute emergency response coverage, allowing most properties to be served within four to six minutes, compared to the current range of approximately 30 seconds to 12 minutes.”
The town said keeping the College Avenue station would require $100 million over 10 years.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall.
