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After years of planning and construction, the Stork fire department has moved into its new fire station. The 1.4 million euro project was inaugurated at the ceremony on Sunday.
Flieden – The new fire station was inaugurated with a ceremonial ceremony on Sunday in the Stork district of Flieden and recognized as an important contribution to the safety, community and future viability of the town. Numerous guests celebrated the completion of a project that required a lot of patience and commitment over the years with representatives from politics, church and fire departments.
“It was a very long road,” emphasized Heiko Dimmerling, first chairman of the Storker Fire Department Association, in his speech. The first planning drawings were submitted in June 2019 before the old building was demolished in July 2022. The construction phase finally began with the groundbreaking in September 2022, and the move took place in autumn 2025 – significantly later than originally planned, as the first quarter of 2023 was initially planned.
Flieden inaugurates 1.4 million euro fire station in Stork
The new building became necessary because the previous fire station no longer met current regulations. “The technical inspection service of the state of Hesse has set our old fire station to red,” explained Dimmerling. There were critical voices from the population: “Of course the question came: Do we need something like that? It's so expensive.” But since it was no longer possible to renovate the old building, the decision to build a new one was unavoidable.
Now the new fire station is presented as a modern location with contemporary equipment: separate sanitary areas, youth and training rooms, sufficiently high vehicle halls and black-and-white separation – a hygiene concept from the fire department to separate turnout clothing contaminated with smoke, soot and pollutants from clean areas. Smaller measures such as a planned veranda are still pending.
Flieden's mayor Christopher Gärtner (CDU) praised the project as a collective effort: “Today we are celebrating much more than just the completion of a building. We are celebrating commitment and community spirit.” The result is remarkable, especially given the numerous challenges during the construction period. The corona pandemic made voting more difficult, and the war in Ukraine led to price increases and delivery bottlenecks. In addition, there was a shortage of skilled workers in the craft sector.
All the more pleasing for Gärtner: “The cost framework is absolutely impressive given the difficult conditions.” In total, the new building cost around 1.4 million euros. The project is supported by funding from the district of Fulda amounting to 99,000 euros and the state of Hesse amounting to 132,000 euros. Through targeted savings – for example by choosing a coating instead of tiles for the flooring – we worked economically without compromising on quality and functionality, says Gärtner.
Many guests took the opportunity to view the new equipment house with coffee, cake and drinks. The inauguration was given a celebratory setting with the blessing of the building by the Protestant pastor Beate Ehlert and the Catholic priest Zbigniew Zielinski. The Magdlo brass band provided musical entertainment, while the youngest guests were able to let off steam on a bouncy castle. For chairman Heiko Dimmerling, the focus of the day was on one message: “This fire station belongs to all of us. It is a fire station for the citizens.”
He was allowed to see what else Stork has to offer Flieden district last year as a “Dolles Dorf” in the Hesse show present.
