Bradenville firefighters prepare to break ground for larger station

The Derry Township Volunteer Fire Department is preparing to break ground in the coming weeks for a new fire hall it has been looking forward to for decades.

The $1.8 million fire hall and public safety building will stand along Bradenville’s School Street, across from the department’s original garage and a short walk away from the current High Street station.

With five truck bays and a second story, the nearly 12,000-square-foot building will be three times the size of the existing, cramped hall that has two bays, Fire Chief Mark Piantine said.

“It’s being built for the future,” he said. “It will have its own generator. So, at times when the power is out, it can be used for an evacuation center and a command post.”

Other features include offices, a radio room, kitchen, lounge and space for meetings and training sessions. The truck bays will have heated floors.

A second story eventually will house a bunk room, additional training space and a gym for the department’s 38 members.

The department has been planning for a larger fire hall since the 1970s, when it acquired the School Street property, including land that was donated by a neighbor.

“We had the coal stripped out of the lot, and it was back-filled and prepared for building,” said Tobe Cackowski, a member of the department’s building committee. “Now we’ve acquired the funding to build. It’s finally coming true.”

The department received a nearly $750,000 grant for the project through Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. A grant writer retained by the township helped with the application for that money and for additional department funds totaling another $500,000.

Final approval of a low-interest bank loan is all that is needed to clear the way for construction to begin, Piantine said.

The building was designed by Thomas R. Harley Architects of Indiana. TBI Contracting of McKeesport will be in charge of construction.

Since the Bradenville firefighting organization was chartered in 1938, its fleet has increased from two trucks to seven, along with an all-terrain utility task vehicle and three boats.

The original garage still houses two trucks plus overflow storage. The department renovated its High Street social hall more than 70 years ago to create the current fire station.

“It’s jam-packed,” Piantine said.