Open house at IVFD place to be on Friday

    Parking was tight on main street Friday, but that was a good thing.
    The Imperial Volunteer Fire Department (IVFD) hosted an open house at their newly remodeled fire hall, and people turned out in big numbers to see their new quarters.
    An estimated 350 enjoyed the pancake and sausage feed, but more than 400 stopped at the hall during the 5-8 p.m. open house, said Fire Chief Doug Mitchell. Several came by just to look over the building, he said.
    “There was a lot of interest in the building. A lot of people have never been inside it,” he said.
    Many were on site right at 5 p.m. to eat, he noted.
    He was happy they decided to serve the food in the truck bay area instead of the kitchen. It provided better flow for the steady crowd.
    Mitchell said he heard nothing but compliments about the hall, which provides enough space now for trucks to line up in a single row for quick exit. In the former location, trucks were stacked double and triple behind each other.
    “A lot of people commented how nice the building is and were impressed,” he said.
    Members of the department took people around on short tours. The kitchen in the meeting room and office area was added all with IVFD labor.
    The department moved to the 315 Broadway location last June from the IVFD’s only other home three blocks north.
    Mitchell said they estimated pretty close on the food, but had to run out and buy more sausage. Only two bags of pancake batter were left.
    Just in time for the open house, new IVFD signage featuring the Maltese cross was hung on the north and south sides of the building. They were given by an anonymous donor.
    While at the open house, people had the opportunity to donate to the fire department’s generator fund.
    Mitchell said $8,934 was collected Friday, which put them over the goal for the single-phase generator they will buy for the building. It will provide power for lights, the doors and heat.
    With that generator on hand, the IVFD won’t be stalled when the power goes out before a fire call.
    That happened in January when a fire northwest of town threatened Imperial, but the fire hall doors would not open due to the outage. After manually opening the doors, the fire trucks were able to exit. However, it delayed their response time, Mitchell said.
    Since part of the building’s electricity has three-phase current, Mitchell said they are considering purchase of a second generator so the entire building would have power during an outage.
    Mitchell thanked the public for coming to the open house and for their continued support.