It will be officially opened next week, but the fire station at Eelde airport has been in full use for two weeks. With this, a wish, which has been there for twenty years, is finally being fulfilled.
From a health and safety point of view, the old barracks had not been possible for a long time. But why did it take so long for a new one to come out? “Politics”, sighs Groningen Airport Eelde director Meiltje de Groot. “Many designs have come up over the years, but sometimes they didn’t work because of the price. There was also the question of whether you should still invest in an airport that was the subject of so much discussion. We are pleased that the shareholders have now decided to invest.”
That is also the opinion of team chief Jeroen Kregel. The firefighter sees his team’s accommodation becoming ‘more than twice as large’. “This is a lot better,” he says. “The working climate alone. The air treatment and ventilation is much better, in winter it was difficult to get the workshop in the old barracks up to temperature. You don’t get that here.”
In addition, the workshop is much larger and all equipment can now be stored under a roof. This is good for the life of the vehicles at the airport, most of which are maintained by the fire service. “We are indeed more than just firefighters,” says Kregel. “We are also mechanics and carpenters. Everything that does not need to be outsourced, we do ourselves.”
According to De Groot, the expansion of the barracks means that cooperation with the Safety Region Drenthe (VRD) can be increased. “And we have opportunities to do more work for fellow airports.”
Furthermore, the new barracks contribute to the speed of the fire service. “We need to be able to be anywhere in the airport within three minutes,” says Kregel. “This morning we did a test, we were there half a minute before the time.”