Blackfoot is a step closer to building a satellite fire station

Blackfoot is a step closer to building a satellite fire station.

The city bought land for the future fire station that will be on the corner of Pendleberry and Cromwell.

The city bought the land from State Hospital South.

Railroads divide the city into two sides: East and West. The current fire station is on the west side of the tracks.

Blocked rail crossings has been an on going concern for Blackfoot. The worry is firefighters and other emergency responders may not make it to a call in time.

“In this last year, we came very close to a fatality due to the fact that services couldn’t get there quick enough. An individual was revived several times after they got there,” said Mayor Paul Loomis. “So it’s an issue.”

The next step is to design the station and figure out funding.

Other ideas to fix this are still being considered in addition to the new fire station.

One is to install an alert system to let first responders know where trains are blocking the road, so they could take a different route.

A long term solution is to build an over pass to connect both sides of the city.