JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — JFRD’s Fire Station 39 has a long history downtown. It was originally located on Catherine Street in 1886. Then it moved to Metro Park in 1995 served for decades until it was torn down in 2022. Soon, the new 7-million-dollar project, Station 39 it will move to the riverfront – designed to respond to emergencies along the St. Johns and ultimately serve the sports district.
“This is a growing area, a lot of construction going on in this area,” said Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, Fire Chief Director Percy Golden.
JFRD’s newest fire station is one of those construction projects.
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They broke ground downtown near the Riverfront for Station 39. Located near EverBank Stadium and the new Four Seasons hotel, it will start off as a marine station meant to improve marine response times along the St. Johns River.
“You’re probably talking, you know, 10-minute response and then going to the south, the next closest marine station is near the Buckman bridge, so this allows us to provide quick, quicker marine responses in downtown,’ said JFRD Deputy Fire Chief Jacob Blanton.
The two-story fire station along the Northbank will have an apparatus bay as well as a three-bay drive-thru and sleeping and living accommodations.
When it opens, it will house a rescue chief and a marine operations.
It will also be used as a multifunction facility for special events such as football games.
Many are excited, especially with the growth and redevelopment of downtown
“We’re bringing, obviously, a new stadium, new hotels. Entertainment district is coming alive, and we need that support to keep people safe. So to have this marine unit on this side that can patrol the river and help out all the people on boats. And then on this side of it, we’re right in front of the stadium, so they can have rescue units go out and fire trucks and just keep the community safe,” said Kevin Carrico, city council president.
JFRD says the station will have room for expansion as the area grows.
“We’ll look at response times, we will look at the growth of the city, and that will determine whether we will add those engine rescues down the road,” said Golden.
They expect Fire Station 39 to be built within the next nine months.
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