The Antonia Fire Protection District recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new station.
About 30 people attended the Nov. 26 ceremony at 5530 Old Hwy. 21, the site of the new House 1. The site is across the street from AAA Zoellner Materials Inc., 5555 Old Hwy. 21, in the Otto area.
“It is a huge day,” Chief Matt Krutzsch said. “I talked with a couple of the battalion chiefs who when I started my career I was with when we held the groundbreaking for our House 2. Now to be in charge and handle our own, it is a proud moment.”
Antonia Fire will pay Brockmiller Construction of Farmington $2,727,900 to build the house. The company submitted the lowest of 11 bids, according to district documents.
Antonia Fire will pay for the new house with money from an $11 million bond issue voters approved in November 2024.
Assistant Fire Chief Bobby Chrisco said Brockmiller will be laying the footing this month and the framing is expected to be erected in January. He said the new House 1 is projected to be completed in July.
“It is very exciting,” he said. “There was a lot of work, faith and trust to get to this point.”
The house is being built on about 2 acres of land near the intersection of Old Hwy. 21 and Hwy. M. Antonia Fire paid $33,572 to the Missouri Department of Transportation in June 2023 to buy the property, using proceeds from its sale of House 1, 3538 Old Hwy. M, in February 2023 for $225,000.
“Unfortunately, we had to close a station (House 1) due to mold issues, trying to figure out a plan to replace that station has finally come to fruition,” Krutzsch said. “We will have great access to the highways, and it will better the response times.”
After the new House 1 is constructed, Antonia Fire will no longer staff House 3, 7138 Old Hwy. 21, Chrisco said. House 3 is about 2 miles south of the new House 1.
“This was 100 percent decided on the strategic location,” he said of the new house. “Our goal is from the time of dispatch of a call to be at somebody’s doorstep within five minutes. This does not complete that, but it drastically changes our position to broaden that (five-minute response time) to more homes.”
Chrisco said the district does not have immediate plans for what to do with House 3. However, he said Antonia Fire will likely sell it in the future.
“It was a pole-barn style building that was retrofitted by employees to turn it into a fire station,” he said. “It was never intended for that use. We make it work. It is not terrible.”
Antonia Fire’s coverage area is 36 square miles and includes Barnhart, Otto and portions of Imperial and House Springs. The district currently operates out of House 2, 6633 Moss Hollow Road, in Barnhart and House 3.
New house
Chrisco said the new House 1 will be about 8,000 square feet, with the building measuring about 7,000 square feet and a mezzanine making up the other approximately 1,000 square feet.
He said the house will have two 70-foot-long bays, and the district plans to house two firetrucks there even though the depth of the bays would allow the district to house up to four trucks there.
“I think it will add to the area,” Krutzsch said of the new House 1. “We will be seen by more people, and I think they will feel safer seeing it. We also have different routes to take to cover our district. We will no longer have to climb up a hill. It is pretty much a straight shot and downhill whichever way we go.”
Chrisco said Antonia Fire currently is expected to spend a little less than anticipated to build the new House 1 because it has switched from having a metal roof to an architectural shingle roof.
He said the decision was made because it would be more cost effective to repair a shingle roof instead of repairing and repainting a metal roof every five to six years.
“We had to change the pitch of the roof for that to happen, and we received a credit,” Chrisco said. “If there are any other changes, that credit would be applied first.”
Krutzsch said the district plans to hold an open house at House 1 before firefighters start using it.
“We want to make sure residents get to see what they assisted us with,” he said. “This is their building. We work for them. We want them to see how they are benefiting from passing the bond issue. We want them to feel included.”
Bond
Chrisco said Antonia Fire sold $5 million worth of bonds in January to cover the cost of building the new house, along with paying for renovations at House 2 and a firetruck that was ordered last year and is expected to be delivered in April.
Chrisco said the district has spent about $742,000 of the bond money it received. Along with the architect fees, he said Antonia Fire made a $150,000 down payment on a new firetruck, spent approximately $100,000 on bond closing costs and legal fees, paid about $16,000 for advanced water rescue gear, spent approximately $120,000 for two new staff vehicles and spent about $266,000 for renovation work at House 2.
Of that $266,000 for renovations at House 2, $137,000 was spent to replace the sprinkler system, approximately $80,000 to replace the house’s garage doors and $49,000 to renovate the bunk rooms, which included reworking the beds’ frames and cabinetry and replacing the faceplates covering the frames, he said.
Chrisco said the new firetruck will cost about $1.1 million, adding that the last firetruck Antonia Fire purchased was in 2017, and it cost approximately $550,000.
Chrisco said Antonia Fire will pay for the new firetruck with money from the bond issue and a $100,000 Diesel Emissions Reduction Act grant.
He said the new truck will allow the district to move the 2017 truck into a reserve role, and Antonia Fire will retire a 2003 American LaFrance model.
“It has been very big for the first year,” Krutzsch said of the bond issue money. “It wasn’t a complete remodel, but we made significant upgrades at House 2, which is 20 years old. We purchased the firetruck, so we have up-to-date equipment.
“We are making sure we are growing and have the proper equipment to protect the residents.”
Chrisco said when the district sells a second round of bonds, the money will be used to repair the parking lot at House 2 and likely purchase another new firetruck.
He said district officials will start making plans for when it may sell the remaining $6 million worth of bonds and what the money would be used for over the first three months of next year.
“We don’t want to do anything redundant or quick now that may not align with something we are not thinking of,” Chrisco said. “We will have a better answer during the first quarter of 2026. It will not be anything fast. Our main goals were to take care of life-safety things at House 2, like the sprinkler system that was down; getting this (building the new House 1) done; and getting a replacement fire truck. With all the planning and time that went into that, we will reconvene and look at what is next.
“I can’t thank our community enough for supporting us and trusting that we are doing the best we can to serve and protect them.”