The Troy Fire Department is looking to start the operation of its new fire station in January of 2017.

Construction on the site should actually be finished sometime in September or October, but new firefighters for the department will not finish training until early January.

The trainees will start fire training next week and then go through EMT school, which should wrap up around the first week of January according to Lt. Paramedic Clay McDougald.

The fire station will be in the former Army Building on Elba Highway. The City sold the building to Troy City Schools in 2005 for $500,000. The city council approved to buy the building back in 2015 for over $1.8 million after the Board of Education had spent nearly $1.3 million on renovations.

McDougald said that the conversion of the building to a fire station is ongoing.

“They’re giving it a total makeover from top to bottom,” McDougald said. “They’ve added a kitchen, showers, bedrooms and a pull-through engine bay.”

Fire Chief Michael Stephens said the extra fire station, the city’s third, will provide several benefits to residents.  “This is a very good thing,” Stephens said.

“It doesn’t just help the residents of that area, it helps the entire city by freeing up the call volume at the other two stations.”

Another benefit of the new station will be faster response times in that area.

“This is going to help with response times out near Country Club Road and Enzor Road,” Stephens said. “It will also be able to cover all the new developments coming out there.”

Another potential of the new station is lower homeowner’s insurance.

Stephens explained his hopes that the new station will lower the Troy Fire Department’s Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating.

Ranked on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the best score, the Troy Fire Department currently has a Class 3 ISO rating.

A community’s ISO rating is one of the factors considered by home insurance companies when setting rates.

The City plans to lease a portion of the building to Troy City Schools for continued use.