VIDEO: Riley County’s new emergency services building is set to open this year. “This will give us a dedicated space for an always-ready emergency operations center,” said Riley County Emergency Services Director Russel Stukey.
Stukey provided an update on construction. “It’s going well,” he said. “BHS is on schedule, if not a little ahead schedule. For the most part, they’ve had pretty good weather and good conditions to work in.”
The building is located at Claflin and Charles Little Road. It will serve as the Fire District 1 Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center. “The dedicated emergency operations center will be up and standing ready to go 24/7, 365,” Stukey said. “When it’s a shared space, you have to pull out all the equipment out of the closet, set everything up, and it takes a long time.”
Stukey explained that the county previously used a different space for its emergency operations, but now it can be used as backup when needed. “If there’s a problem at one location, whether it’s power’s out or water’s out or damage from a storm, the other location will still be ready and available,” he said.
He also said it’s time Riley County gets a new state-of-the-art emergency facility. “We’re the seventh largest county by population in the state, and having a facility like this is just long overdue and getting us to the modern times,” Stukey said. Stukey said the new building will be completed in July.
