Station #3

Station Three was built on a five acre lot donated by AJ and Ruth Dwyer and family at 13974 Willowbrook Road in Roscoe, Illinois 61073. After monitoring calls over a period of time and along with the growth projections on the north end of the fire district, the Trustees set aside money for Station Three.

Groundbreaking was held on April 4, 1991, on the fifty-first anniversary of the fire district. Trustees Glen Gabel, John Sundstedt, and Jim Hall presented the Dwyer family with a plaque to thank them for their generosity. The newly constructed station went “on line” on September 12, 1991. The Dwyer family was given the honor of cutting the ribbon, officially opening the station on September 28, 1991. Due to the foresight and planning of the Trustees, the $270,000 building was completely debt free.

It was a two-bay drive through building with a radio room, office, training room, restrooms, and a backup generator. Two deep wells were dug to provide water. The bay could hold four vehicles, but originally housed two engines and a grass rig.

Former Deputy Chief Richard Mackenthun said, “The first trucks in the station were the department’s oldest trucks and the firefighters teased that they were the “antique museum”. Two Dalmatian statues were donated to Station Three in 1991 and are still at the station. A Name the Dog and Pup Contest was held at the Prairie Hill School to name the two statues. The names selected were Blaze for the adult Dalmatian and Cinder for the puppy.

In 2006, an addition to the station tripled the size of the original station and added much needed training space. The station now had four apparatus bays, a large indoor training room, a large meeting room, radio room, office, kitchen, storage rooms, lounge, sleeping quarters, and restrooms with showers. The station also has a sprinkler system, a six kilowatt backup generator in case of an electrical outage, and special exhaust fans. Individual bunk rooms were added in 2013.

During the 2006 construction, the fire trucks and firefighters were re-located to a building off Metric Lane fondly called the “barn”. The cold and mice were a few of the things they had to deal with during this time, but the firefighters didn’t skip a beat while answering calls to the community.

On May 22, 2011, Station Three was struck by an EF1 Tornado. The firefighters that were at the station at the time saw a small tornado heading right at the station. As they ran to an inner room, they said the sound was like a train, and they could hear the doors blow off. They also saw ceiling tiles above their heads in the hallway lift. Luckily no one was hurt. After the storm had passed and the firefighters went outside, they found more damage. Several trees and all three flagpoles were on the ground. One of the bay doors had blown off and damaged the side of the station. The smoke house was also pushed into a trailer causing damage to both vehicles. The firefighters immediately went into action to board up and temporarily secure the station.

In the fall of 2016, we begun an improvement/update project at station 3. The purpose of the project was to improve firefighter living facilities, improve building / mechanical equipment for efficiency, and improve public entrance identity, along with placing both stations on sanitary sewer. We also added a classroom for education as station 3 is our training station. Firefighter were able to reoccupy their new facility in fall of 2017.
 

The following apparatus is currently housed at Station Three: an ALS Ambulance, 75’ Quint, 1,000-gallon engine, 3,000-gallon super tanker, grass rig, Technical Rescue Truck, enclosed trailer, and a reserve engine.