CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The Hiawatha Fire Department said its new building means faster response times for emergency patients.

More than 90% of the calls Hiawatha responds to are medical in nature.

At the grand opening of the new building, children tested their skills as firefighters and walked around the new building on the north side of Hiawatha. Denise Stejskal said it was an opportunity to see the latest equipment.

“Hopefully we can go inside and get a better idea of ​​what it looks like,” Stejskal said.

What she didn’t know: In her neighborhood, the response time was currently about 10 minutes. The new building will be halved.

“I didn’t know it was such a long drive from the other station,” she said. With I-380 and everything in between, it might be.

According to Police Chief Matt Powers, it wasn’t just Stejskal. The new building improves the department’s response time, within four minutes, from about 60% of the city’s population to over 90%. It was relocated to the northern part where the city is growing.

“If we go to County Home Road, we’re looking at a 10-minute response time to get through town and get there,” Powers said. “We’re cutting that time down by four or five minutes.”

This reduction in response time gave Stejskal the confidence that someone would be there if they needed to call for help.

“In an emergency, every minute counts, so I think it’s better to be closer. I mean, if they can get there as quickly as possible, it’s even better,” she said.

Fire Station Number Two cost $6.1 million and was funded by the local sales tax. The number of fire stations in the community doubled without raising taxes.

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