Construction on the West Natick Fire Station #4 at 268 Speen St., is complete, and Chief Michael Lentini took some time out of his day to show us around the 17,000 square-foot station. Here are a few pictures of the brand-new, ADA-compliant building and all its bells and whistles including the five double-deep apparatus bays; training areas; enhanced safety measures; and more.
Although West Natick Fire Station #4 is officially open to the public, please don’t stop in for now unless it’s an emergency. The driveway into the parking lot is a little rough and not yet well marked. “We want to do an Open House during Fire Prevention Week in October. At that point work on the station should be done,” Lentini said.
The 5-bay station was designed by Tecton Architects and includes 5 double-deep apparatus bays that can house up to 10 pieces of equipment. Castagna Construction of Newburyport was awarded the $12.3 million contract in early 2019.
Natick’s Fire Station #4 supports the largest call volume within Natick and responds to calls within other districts as needed. A bigger station was needed due to the changes in the West Natick end of town over the past 20 years. Between the expansion of the mall; 215 units of housing added at Nouvelle in 2008; the 250+ units at Cloverleaf apartments; along with the 164 apartments at Avenu and the 135 rooms at Marriott Residence Inn; and more the time was right for the project, which was paid for through a debt exclusion override. “It went a little over from the original estimate because asbestos was found on the site,” Lentini said, “so that had to be remediated.”
Chief Lentini says he hopes to have 1 ambulance working full-time out of Station 4 in the near future. Engine 4 is stationed here, of course, and there is space for the Haz Mat, Rescue, and Special Operations trucks. A spare engine will be kept here as well.
Safety measures were put in place in response to studies that show that firefighters are diagnosed with cancer at a 30% higher rate than that of the general population. To that end, there’s a dirty side of the station and a clean side (above). “Everyone has 2 sets of gear and garments. No carcinogens go near clean gear,” Lentini said. That means when firefighters come back to the station after a call, they take care of their gear on one side of the building in dedicated washers and dryers. Once the gear is clean, they bring it to the other side and place it at the ready for the next call. On the clean side, another set of washers and dryers is used for towels, bedding, and other items that need to be laundered that do not go out on calls.
Nice kitchen. They could start a restaurant here. I’ll have the Station 4-alarm chili, please.
Tecton Architects took a look at the dining table and decided the surface needed a little spark. Look out, fires, the Fightin’ Fourth is coming to get you.
Not to be outdone, Castagna Construction gifted the station with a grill. Medium rare for me during the Open House, thanks.
The living quarters are spare affairs. “Everything was pretty well thought out. We didn’t need extravagance. We just needed functionality,” Lentini said.
West Natick fire station
A corner was carved out for the police so that officers don’t have to go downtown all the time to fill out reports. There won’t be an officer here full time. It’s just a spot to do paperwork.
A generator is ready to go in case of power outages.
If this sign looks familiar, congratulations, you’re one of the many who visited the now-closed Leonard Morse emergency room on Union Street. This treasure was scored on the up-and-up and added to the Station 4 to give the joint atmosphere.
Thanks for the tour, Chief Lentini. He’s been the NFD top dog for the past 4 years, and a member of the department for 31 years. He doesn’t look too proud of the department’s new digs, does he?
West Natick Fire Station #4, seen here in July 2020, has been torn down. The building served the community since 1956. A community pocket park and shared bike path is being built on the site and will connect both the station and neighborhood to area amenities.So that the others don’t feel left out
Natick has three additional fire stations: Station #1, the headquarters, is located in downtown Natick at 22 E. Central St.; Station #2 is at 2 Robert Sproule Ln. in South Natick; and Station #3 is at 2 Rhode Island Ave. in East Natick.
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