Photos by REBECCA BARNETT The Roanoke Times

Grand opening today: Station No. 5 on Orange Avenue Northwest.

James Gish of Franklin County finds a box of his belongings while moving into the new Roanoke Fire-EMS Station No. 5 on Tuesday. He said he would miss the old firehouse. Station No. 5 is the last of three new stations to be built that are able to accommodate modern firefighting trucks and equipment.

Today's grand opening of Roanoke's third new fire station in as many years marks the last step in a 10-year plan to replace antique firehouses with state-of-the-art facilities that can speed emergency response times and save money.

The new stations, built at a cost of nearly $11 million, replace buildings erected when horses pulled engines and firefighters pumped water by hand.

"It's a monumental step forward," Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback said.

The new stations are in locations with better access to the neighborhoods they serve. That will help response times, Hoback said. Two of the new fire stations also consolidate equipment and manpower once housed in four stations, saving the city money, he said.

The new station bays are sized for modern firefighting equipment, so the Fire-EMS department can assign fire engines to stations where they're needed -- instead of where they fit.

The new Station No. 5 on Orange Avenue in Northwest Roanoke, which has its official opening ceremony today, is home to a new 105-foot, $843,000 Pierce ladder truck that would never have fit into the old stations.

The new buildings position the department well all the way into the next century, Assistant City Manager Jim Grigsby said.

Roanoke set out a decade ago to evaluate which of its historic fire stations needed to be replaced based on location, maintenance cost and whether they could house modern firefighting equipment.

The study identified Station No. 1 in downtown Roanoke, Station No. 3 on Sixth Street Southwest, Station No. 5 on 12th Street Northwest and Station No. 9 on 24th Street Northwest as buildings that should be replaced. Those stations all were built before 1930.

The plan also called for the sale of Station No. 10 to the Roanoke Regional Airport Commission. Money from that sale was used to buy land for new stations No. 3 and No. 5.

The new stations' better designs and bigger bays help firefighters get out of the station faster, and their better locations put them more central to their coverage area, Hoback said.

The first new fire station, No. 1 on Franklin Road, opened in 2007. The 29,000-square-foot building also serves as the city Fire-EMS headquarters. The building allowed the old stations No. 1 and No. 3 to be retired.

No. 3 was sold to an architectural firm, which restored the building to showcase its work.

The historic Church Avenue station, the old No. 1, remains open for tours, and the city is considering leasing some of the space to nonprofit groups, Grigsby said.

The second new fire station, No. 3 on Williamson Road Northwest, opened in January 2009. It replaced the airport station. The airport takes over firefighting duties at the facility starting Thursday.

The location of the airport station on Aviation Drive made it difficult for crews to respond quickly to emergency calls on Interstate 581, Williamson Road, and other nearby highways, Hoback said.

Response times at the new station No. 3 have improved from the old station's times by 36 seconds to an average of 4 minutes and 24 seconds through June 17 this year over the same period in 2008.

The new No. 5 consolidates the old stations No. 5 and No. 9. The old No. 9 was sold to Maxey Seat Cover, which plans to use the building for storage and office space. No. 5 is still up for sale.

The new No. 5 has a community room for neighborhood groups and a police substation. Like the other new stations, the building is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified building.

Other perks of the new stations: office space for fire supervisors, separate quarters for males and females and air conditioning.

Only two of Roanoke's historic fire stations remain in use. They are Station No. 8 on Crystal Spring Avenue Southwest, built in 1929, and Station No. 7 on Memorial Avenue Southwest, built in 1922.

Those stations are in need of repair, but they are in good locations and won't be moved, Hoback said.

The department seems to recognize the importance of its history. Since the closing of the four old stations, firefighters have salvaged pieces and brought them to their new buildings, Hoback said.

Capt. Chris Brown, a Roanoke firefighter who died in December of a brain tumor, had removed the sliding poles from the old Station No. 3 when it closed in 2007. His crews installed the poles in the new Station No. 5, Hoback said.

Firefighters also preserved the old box alarms that sent firefighters scrambling to an emergency decades ago.

"These guys are taking ownership and remembering the past and enjoying the future," Hoback said.