The time to start planning for a new fire station in Onset has arrived.

The Onset Fire District Prudential Committee is seeking letters of interest for people willing to serve on the new Fire Station Building Committee.

Onset Fire Chief Ray Goodwin said that a previous committee delivered a report in the 1990s saying the station would need to be replaced. This new committee will explore how that will actually be accomplished.

Onset needs a new fire station primarily because the current one isn't large enough.

“The fact is, the role of the fire department has changed in the last two decades,” Goodwin said. “The building went into service in 1960. It was hard for them to see what the department would evolve into today.”

Prudential Committee Chairman Charles Klueber echoed Goodwin’s sentiment, saying that over the years, equipment has gotten larger.

"The department has a new ladder truck coming [later this year] that won't fit in the station," Klueber said.

They'll likely have to house that at the Fire District offices on Sand Pond Road, where they already house another engine. He also said there is no place for firefighters to properly decontaminate equipment in the current station.

According to Klueber, with the district in good financial shape and interest rates as low as they are, now is the optimal time for capital improvements.

"We want to be proactive," he said. "The current building has served the district well but for a lot of reasons, it’s time to look to the future."

Klueber said the committee will have five to seven members and that general taxpayers should be included on the committee.

He also said it would be at least three or four years before any shovels get put in the ground, and that the entire process will consist of open meetings and welcome public input.

Interested parties can mail letters of interest to PO Box 44, Onset, MA, 02558.