By Erin Dixon | [email protected]

Midvale Fire Station 125 (7683 S. Holden St.) needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

The existing station was once a car repair shop. In 1988 it was converted and remodeled to a fire station. It serves the Midvale area, as well as other nearby United Fire Authority (UFA) needs.

An old waterpipe burst early this year and flooded the station. Cracks on the outside walls show that the station would not hold up well in an earthquake. There is only one truck bay that has a door on both sides. The majority of fire station accidents are from backing up trucks, making a pull-through garage for all vehicles vital for safety. 

“We’re very busy,” Fire Captain Scott Thorell said. “This is one of our busiest stations, in the top three as far as call volume.”

This station is across the street from new high-density apartments. Station 125 does not have the space for a ladder truck, which these buildings — at three- to four-stories high — would need in an emergency. (A nearby station would send a ladder truck to the scene.)

There are several other stations in the UFA that need attention, too.

“We’ve identified maybe six stations that need to be rebuilt in the near future. We’re in the midst of a seismic study of all of our buildings. Nine of those existing buildings need seismic upgrade,” Fire Chief Steve Prokopis said.

To pay for these new stations, bonds will be proposed on local ballots.

“They’re talking about possibly bonding in 2020. After the bonding it would take about 18 months to build. Where this station (125) falls in the order of things being built, that’s still up in the air.

“There’s one in Olympus Cove, that one is less than 1,000 square feet. I would guess to say that this is second. When you have five or six it’s tough to say which one has the greatest need,” Prokopis said.