New Onset Fire Station ‘substantially complete,’ cleared for occupancy

The new Onset Fire Station, located at 8 Sand Pond Rd. behind the old Salvation Army, is “substantially complete,” and cleared for occupancy. 

During an Aug. 12 Prudential Committee meeting, Fire Chief Jeffrey Osswald explained that work to set up the phone systems, radios and internet is now underway. Efforts to move equipment and furniture into the new building are also in progress, he said. 

Project manager Joe Sullivan confirmed that construction work was completed in late June.

Now, a few remaining issues are being addressed. The HVAC system needs to be rebalanced to ensure the rooms all cool adequately and the landscaping is not up to the Prudential Committee’s standards, among other issues. In addition to that, a few leaks were identified and have been repaired or will be repaired in the coming weeks.

Osswald said the Fire District should be able to move operations to the new station fully in late August. He added that the district should not have to do “dual dispatching” out of the new and old station simultaneously, because none of the old systems were being transferred to the new station.