Opening Soon: The Bradshaw-McNair Fire Station in Beulah

Construction crews are rapidly putting the finishing touches on our newest, state of the art fire station in Escambia County in District 1.

Look for the ribbon-cutting ceremony to be announced very soon.

It has taken nearly 8 years to get to where we are right now; on the cusp of opening this modern station which will be a tremendous asset to Northwest Escambia County in general, and the Beulah community particularly.

The station will be named the Bradshaw-McNair Fire station in honor of two men who dedicated their lives to service.

Volunteer Assistant District Fire Chief #2 Dwain Bradshaw was tragically killed in the line of duty in 2019.

Volunteer District Fire  Chief  #2 Steve McNair has dedicated nearly 6 decades to volunteering as a firefighter in Beulah, and he helped to build the first Beulah Fire station.

The rendering above is an abstract of what will be a bronze memorial to these men, which will be prominently displayed at the station that will bear their names.

Modernizing Beulah's Fire Station: What's the Timeline, What's Being Designed into the Facility?

The project to modernize Beulah’s Fire Station is moving forward now, full speed ahead.

The Board of County Commissioners has purchased the property in Beulah where the station currently sits, and the county has put out a request for letters of interest (RLI) to engage a firm to design the improvements at this site.  The notice of RLI was published and the window of time for submissions from interested firms has now closed, as of this past Tuesday, May 5^th.

WHAT WAS IN THE REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST—AND WHAT WILL THE REMODELED STATION HAVE IN TERMS OF FEATURES?

(From the solicitation)

“Escambia County is seeking an architectural and engineering [firm] for design services for two (2) Fire Stations, one (1) each in Beulah and Pleasant Grove. Each project is an approximately 10,000 square-foot fire station to be constructed at the County-owned site located at 6400 West Nine Mile Road, Pensacola, Florida 32526 and 9350 Gulf Beach Highway, Pensacola, Florida, 32507.

The projects will include reviewing the existing fire station structures and make recommendations for remodeling the existing facilities or new construction. The design will likely be similar for both facilities and adapted to each selected site. The work will include space programming, schematic design, design development, construction document preparation, bidding administration, and construction administration. The architect will prepare estimates and give the County an opinion of cost.

Each facility is estimated to be approximately 10,000 square feet and will include the following:

·         Beulah fire station / 4 drive thru truck bays

·         Pleasant Grove station / 3 drive thru bays     Both facilities shall include:

·         1 EMS bunkroom/ready room/office;

·         2 officer’s quarters with connecting bathrooms / office & bunkroom separated by wall;

·         8 bunkrooms/offices;

·         2 unisex bathrooms with shower;

·         1 unisex bathroom no shower;

·         1 day room to accommodate ten chairs/people;

·         1 kitchen with commercial appliances  (gas)  including four (4)  walk in pantries  with adequate space for refrigerators and shelves;

·         1 physical fitness room;

·         1 storage room;

·         1 janitorial supply closet;

·         1 decontamination/laundry room with room for ice machine;

·         1 enclosed bunker gear storage area to accommodate 30 full size PPE lockers;

·         Work bench and storage area;

·         1 large training room/community center room large enough to accommodate 25 people;

·         Secure lobby area for citizen/visitor entrance with limited access to rest of building;

·         Diesel exhaust system in truck bay;

·         Station alerting system; and

·         Consider bi-fold doors for truck bays”

WHAT IS THE TIMELINE FROM NOW TO AWARD OF THE DESIGN CONTRACT?

Beulah Volunteers from Station 2 Save the Day!

Last Thursday was stormy in the Pensacola area...Heavy storms, thunder, and lightning.

One unlucky homeowner in the Nature Trail Subdivision in Beulah absorbed a direct lightning strike on their dwelling at about 4:00 PM that day.

And it caused a fire in the attic.

The residents of the home were actually away at the time, travelling about 150 miles from home at the time of the fire.  I'm told an alert resident saw the smoke rising from the neighbor's house and called 911.

Members of the Escambia County Fire Rescue Department, Station 2 (Beulah Volunteers) were in the field on a call at the time this house fire call came in. 

They immediately diverted to Nature trail. 

By 4:07 PM, according to official records of the incident, the Tanker and the Engine from station 2 arrived on scene and began an "aggressive" fight to save the house and as much of the residence's contents as possible.

At 4:12, Squad 3 from Brent arrived on scene as well to assist Station 2.

At 4:17 Engine 1 from Bellview arrived to assist.

In addition to these resources--three battalion Chiefs and the acting Fire Chief himself arrived on the fire scene.  It was a total team effort, led by the Beulah Volunteers who arrived first on the scene.

According to one high ranking official with whom I spoke--the effort ECFR put into saving this home was fantastic.  "It was an A+" this person told me.

Thanks to all of ECFR for their work on this and all the other emergencies they respond to--and a huge "Job Well Done!" goes out to the volunteers at Station 2 for getting it done once again for the residents of Beulah!  Way to Go!