The city of Aurora celebrated the grand opening of two new fire stations on Thursday.
Fire Station 13, located near the Chicago Premium Outlets mall and the future Hollywood Casino location, is the city’s 10th operational fire station and the first to be located north of Interstate 88. Fire Station 9 was relocated from its former location on Diehl Road to a new and improved building near the corner of Eola Road and East New York Street.
Although firefighters had already been working out of the two new stations for weeks or months, city and fire department officials held separate grand-opening ribbon-cutting ceremonies for each station on Thursday morning.
“Today represents more than just a new building,” interim Fire Chief Kevin Nickel said during the grand opening ceremony for Fire Station 13. “It represents our community’s commitment to public safety and the firefighters who serve here day in and day out.”
Both stations were built to improve the fire department’s response times in Aurora, following the recommendations of a 2021 study. In addition to responding to fires, the Aurora Fire Department also has ambulances that respond to medical calls.
Construction for the new Fire Station 13 officially broke ground in November 2024, which then-Mayor Richard Irvin called “a significant milestone in our commitment to safety, security and well-being for our community.” At the time, fire officials said the new station would help decrease response times to those in the area and to accidents on the interstate.
Then-Fire Chief David McCabe, who has since retired, said during the 2024 groundbreaking ceremony that a fire station north of I-88 had been talked about since he started at the department in 1997.
The land where the fire station is now located was purchased by the city in 2015, Assistant Fire Chief of Support Services Michael Kaufman said during Thursday’s grand opening.
Then, the 2021 study found what the fire department already knew, Kaufman said, which is that a fire station in the northeast was “essential to maintaining strong emergency coverage” as Aurora grows.
“In our line of work, seconds matter,” he said. “Improving response times means more lives saved, less property lost and a safer community for everyone.”
Aurora Mayor John Laesch, at Thursday’s grand opening, said that Station 13 will be a “key piece” for development in the northern part of the city.
The Aurora City Council approved the roughly $12.8 million construction of the 20,000-square-foot Fire Station 13 in late 2024. The relocation of Fire Station 9 was also approved at around that time at a cost of nearly $11.5 million.
The former Fire Station 9 at 2339 Diehl Road had been in operation since 1994, according to Kaufman. The same tradition of dedication and professionalism built at that previous location, he said, will be carried forward to the new station.
The new Fire Station 9’s location was selected both for today’s needs and for long-term effectiveness, Kaufman said during the station’s grand opening ceremony. Plus, it was designed to meet the demands of modern emergency response and to support the health of the firefighters who work out of it.
Both of the new stations feature similar layouts, with easy access to the vehicle bay from the building’s living quarters. Firefighters get their own enclosed sleeping areas with desks, and there are private shower areas off the locker rooms.
Plus, both stations feature exercise rooms and leisure rooms with large kitchens.
In addition to the two newly-opened fire stations, Aurora is also currently constructing a new fire department headquarters that will include a relocated Fire Station 4. It is being built on the same site as the city’s police department headquarters, creating a “public safety campus.”
Construction for the fire department headquarters building was approved last May at a cost of roughly $34.9 million. Laesch, who at the time was an alderman at-large but was just hours from being sworn in as mayor, voted against the project.
Like the new Fire Station 13 and the relocated Fire Station 9, Fire Station 4 is being moved following recommendations made by the 2021 study that looked at fire department response times. Plus, fire officials said their current headquarters in downtown had run out of space.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
