The community of Alburnett, Iowa, celebrated the completion of its new volunteer fire department facility in April, 2021 — a project nearly 20 years in the making. The department has been protecting and serving the communities of Alburnett and Otter Creek in east-central Iowa since 1929 —a population of approximately 2,400 — within a 36-square-mile radius. The volunteer fire department is comprised of approximately 20 firefighters and has until recently been operating out of a noticeably undersized and subsequently unsafe facility.

Built in the 1950s, the prior station had served the department well for years, but could no longer accommodate the needs of department volunteers, equipment or the larger size of trucks standard to current firefighting operations. In fact, the prior station truck bays were so small that the vehicles were squeezed up against the walls of the structure, in places within half an inch of glass windows or doors leading to department office and storage spaces.

The City of Alburnett and MSA already had a long-standing and trusted relationship, with MSA serving as the community’s City engineer for over 10 years. In 2019, the City contracted with MSA for concept planning and site design services for the new 76,800-square-foot facility, including topographic survey, site grading, erosion control, design of water and sewer services, parking lot layout and driveway design, as well as construction management and administration. Poor soil quality at the site provided a challenge in order to deliver adequate stability to handle the weight of loaded fire trucks and equipment. Several alternative pavement designs were developed and included in the bid form including concrete, asphalt, and gravel surfacing. This provided flexibility to meet both geotechnical conditions and project budgetary constraints.

Funding for the $1.5-million project came from a combination of City funds, grants, public donors and community fundraising efforts. The finished fire station has plenty of room for firefighting personnel, equipment and training, with five vehicle bays and two pull-through truck bays, office space, kitchen, community room, and reserved space for the future development of a park just west of the station along with a new trail along the adjacent Roosevelt Street to connect residents to the area.

The Alburnett Fire Department, project partners, stakeholders and firefighters celebrated the official completion of the project on April 19, 2021, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and look forward to keeping the Alburnett-Otter Creek communities safe for decades to come.