‘Moving Houston River Fire into the future’
Two new stations in the Houston River area, saving homeowners money and getting the station out of a flood zone
Calcasieu Parish, LA (KPLC) - Some good news for residents in the Houston River area - Ward 4 Fire District 4 has built two new fire stations. They’ve moved their main station out of a flood zone, and added a new station that will help some residents save on insurance costs.
“Moving Houston River Fire into the future,” said Houston River Fire Chief Dean Lappe.
Station 1 is a new main building at 3000 N. Claiborne.
“A 10,000 square foot, under roof, fire station, complete with admin area, forms with future expansion of full-time firefighters, a kitchen. We’ve incorporated everything we could think of into a fire station here,” said Chief Lappe.
Chief Dean Lappe says this was a much needed change from their old location, even though they just moved down the road.
“Not even a quarter of a mile east of here, that station was in a flood zone. It flooded four times. One time we had over four feet of water in that building,” said Chief Lappe.
The second change is an additional location, Station 3, located at 3500 W. Houston River Rd.
“What that does for our folks on the west end of the district is it allows them to have a recognized fire station for the property insurance of Louisiana. That recognized fire station gets them the Class 4 rating that we hold in the rest of the district,” said Chief Lappe.
That Class 4 rating, opposed to the Class 10 level rating, or lowest level rating, that area holds now.
“An engine company out there, there’s a service unit out there. Both of those units have 1,800 gallons of water each, so we’ve got a pretty good water supply for a quick strike out on the west end now,” said Chief Lappe.
Although Station 3 may not be as big as the new Station 1, Chief Lappe says they are ready to respond to anything that comes their way.
“We’re definitely going to have responders going there in the event of a call on the west end, we’re going to have folks headed that way to get trucks out of that building and get to your emergency without a doubt it will happen,” said Chief Lappe.
Chief Lappe says effective June 1, residents should notify their insurance companies that they are now in a Class 4 area, which should get them the reduced insurance rates.
If you have any questions, you can contact the Houston River Fire Department at (337) 527-0744, or message them on Facebook.
The department will be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony, and official opening of the new Station 1 on June 16 at 5:30 p.m.
The firefighters will be giving tours, the Honor Guard will be posting our Nation’s Colors and Pastor Lonnie Gothrup will offer prayer. Chief Lappe says this is a great time to meet the firefighters that volunteer to serve the community and see all of the amenities in the brand new station.
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