COLUMBIA, S.C. — Columbia will soon build a new fire station on Ferguson Street, replacing Olympia Park Station. Fire officials say the project will accommodate the department's anticipated growth.
The current fire station in Olympia is in a former flower shop built in 1977. It was converted into a firehouse in the 1990s, and now the department has outgrown the facility. The replacement will be located on Bluff Road. The new firehouse will be able to hold more resources, equipment and possibly another fire truck.
“When it comes to safety, when it comes to the hot, warm, cold zone, when it comes to place to study, place, to fellowship with one, another place to have, you know, to eat is everything about this place is new and different and also expansion," said Mickey Folsom, the assistant chief of administration for Columbia Fire Department (CFD). "So, when you look at the future, when we designed this firehouse, we thought about the future. We thought about future growth."
Columbia Fire Department officials said the new firehouse will accommodate up to nine personnel. The current location only holds five. They also want the new site to provide crew members with a healthier environment, including a new cancer prevention initiative.
“They'll hook up a an exhaust system capture and so they can drive into the station, and that eliminate, eliminates some of the cancer call carcinogens that is prevalent in exhaust systems, as well as when our firefighters come from a scene, you know, we go into different type of scenes as toxic," Folsom said.
The project has four phases. Phase one is complete with a schematic design. The other phases are construction drawings, beginning construction, and project closeout. The project's total cost is estimated to be around $10 million. The money will come from general funds and a grant.
“This new fire house, we do have a community room that our citizens can come and, you know, have some meetings or be a part of what we do. But you know, any firehouse is the citizens firehouse. They can come by at any time," said Folsom.
The next phase is the final review of the construction drawings, which CFD officials say should be completed in the Spring of 2025.
CFD officials told us they expect the project to be completed in winter 2026 or spring 2027.