Elkhart breaks ground on first new firehouse in 20 years

ELKHART, Ind. -- The City of Elkhart broke ground on its first new firehouse in 20 years on Monday morning.

The building is expected to be completed by September 2026.

City officials say one of the main reasons for this new firehouse is to cover the northeast side of Elkhart.

The northeast side currently lacks an efficient or timely response rate, according to Mayor Rod Roberson and the Elkhart Fire Department.

The city aims to make everyone in the area feel safe, especially when it comes to EMS and ambulance response time.

Elkhart Fire Chief Rodney Dale said, "Seconds matter, as I said during my speech, and just being able to get an ambulance there faster, because right now, the ambulance comes from central fire station locally, located on Waterfall Drive. Once this station is built, we have an ambulance right here. So, when those EMS calls go out, those fire calls, we'll be right on top of it. So, it's just a wonderful thing for the health, you know, health and safety of people, the taxpayers, they should have premium service, and that's what we're going to provide."