Sioux Falls Fire Rescue to break ground on next station

The 13th fire station in the city of Sioux Falls breaks ground this week.

It will serve the growing northwest part of the community, an area that includes the booming employment center at Foundation Park — home to Amazon and the future location of CJ Schwan’s and Smithfield Foods.

“It’s an (industrial) area, and I anticipate there will be growth in density and multifamily housing,” Fire Chief Matt McAreavey said.

A grid laid out in 2018 helps the city determine when and where to build new stations, he added. One key determinant is that a station be located within 5 miles of wherever its crew might need to respond.

The northwest, particularly Foundation Park, now is an area outside of 5 miles from the closest fire station, “and some of those response times can exceed eight to 10 minutes,” McAreavey said. “Our stated standard is (responding to) 90 percent of emergency calls in four minutes.”

The station at 5200 N. Career Ave. will break ground at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

The $5.2 million project drew 13 bidders and came in nearly $250,000 less than estimated. Puetz Design + Build was the contractor selected, and the business is located just blocks from the fire station’s location.

“It will be their neighborhood fire station,” McAreavey said.

The single-story station will be designed similar to the city’s last fire station, which was built in 2020 and is designed for a four-person crew.

It also includes report-to-work areas for fire and building inspectors, along with landing spots allowing workspace.

“The parcel that we purchased is just shy of 6 acres, so we are contemplating there would be room for additional city services one day, whether it be law enforcement report-to-work or additional support services,” McAreavey said.

Fire Rescue will be hiring 15 people to support the fire station. The annual application period ends Thursday, May 14.

“Applications have been coming in slightly ahead of previous years,” McAreavey said, adding that the city’s new public safety training center is “huge” for supporting new recruits.

The hope is to open the new fire station in early 2027.

To learn more about the 2027 Sioux Falls Fire Rescue Cadet Academy, visit here.

With new station planned, Fire Rescue begins looking for next round of cadets