Firefighters begin the move to the new Fire Headquarters
By Melissa Muntz Community Reporter

(l to r) Shrewsbury firefighters Nick Vincequere and Kevin Weigold tote files into the new Fire Headquarters building located behind the current station off Main Street. PHOTO/MELISSA MUNTZ

Shrewsbury - After years of planning and months of construction, Shrewsbury firefighters have begun moving into the new Fire Headquarters building in the center of town.

Although firefighters are looking forward to getting into the new building, there is some disagreement about what they are most excited about.

Brendan Palumbo said he thinks the best feature to the new building is the larger equipment bays, which will better accommodate today's bigger emergency vehicles.

"It will be nice to be able to back into the station without worrying about crashing into the building," he said.

For Nick Vincequere, the biggest advantage to the new building is the fitness room, which will house donated weights and machines for the firefighters to use during their down time.

"We've never had a designated fitness room before and I think the new fitness center will benefit firefighters for years to come," Vincequere said.

Fire Captain Seth Colby said he is most looking forward to the additional space for storage and equipment that they just didn't have in the old station.

"We've been crammed for a long time. Every nook and cranny is packed, every closet, the attic, and now we'll finally have a place to set things up the right way," Seth Colby said. "I'm also really excited about the new classroom because we'll have a place to do our training."

An updated communication system is the feature Adam Towner said he is most looking forward to.

"It's safer for everyone on the department and it helps us to better distribute resources around town," he said.

Despite their enthusiasm, firefighters called the move bittersweet.

"The older building has a little more style and history, but we definitely needed the space," Jamie Colby said.

June LaMier has been the Fire Department secretary since 1986 and although she said she will also miss the character of the old building, there is one thing that she won't miss at all - the stairs to her second-floor office.

"I'll be on the first floor, thank goodness," she said. "And I'll have a brand new big office so I'm not so crowded."

It's in this office that many of the department files will be stored, and LaMier said keeping them organized when moving will be the most important component of the move.

More than 35 boxes of records are being transferred to the new station, some dating back to the late 1950s. Palumbo said packing all these files has been the best part of the move so far.

"I spent a day just reading some the old files and they're really interesting," he said. "I found my parents' house in there and there was a barn fire in 1965 before they moved in."

He said some of the older members of the department have really enjoyed going through the files because they remember a lot of the calls firsthand.

"They remember the details, a lot of times they even remember the people's name," Palumbo said.

An open house will be scheduled to view the new Fire Headquarters as well as the new Station #3 on CenTech Boulevard and the newly renovated Harrington Avenue station in the upcoming weeks.