The City of Columbus this week formally opened the newly-rebuilt Fire Station 2 on East Fulton Street.
The nearly $9 million, 22,000 square-foot facility features three apparatus bays and will also house the division’s Dive and Rescue Team. Columbus Division of Fire Chief Kevin O’Connor says the opening of Station 2 will help expand service to other neighborhoods.
O’Connor says Medic 823 will provide service and better response times in the Eastland, Taylor Station, Eastmoor and Mayfair neighborhoods. Station 2 bears the name of firefighter John Nance, who joined the Columbus division in 1959. He died responding to a fire in 1987. Nance’s brother Joe recalls a phone call they shared shortly before his death trying to plan a vacation.
While battling a fire at the Mithoff Building on July 25th 1987, John Nance fell through a floor into a burning basement. Crews tried everything they could but were unable to get him out. Columbus Firefighter David Karn says Nance’s death led to training improvements the division still uses today.
John Nance Fire Station No. 2 marks the seventh fire station built in Columbus since 2000 and the third environmentally-friendly one. The city hopes to break ground before the end of the year on another fire station on the east side along Waggoner Road.
