Excitement builds as new Harmony Fire District headquarters prepares to open
A multiyear project that will benefit thousands of residents in the southwestern portion of Butler County is scheduled to be complete in the next few days.
The official opening of the new Harmony Fire District headquarters in Zelienople will be a significant improvement for the residents of Zelienople, Harmony, Jackson Township and Lancaster Township.
“I don’t think words can adequately capture the excitement of the firefighters at the organization,” said Harmony Fire District Chief Scott Garing about the feelings surrounding the new location. “Our station that we were in, it was built for the time period and the era of what fire departments were doing back then.”
“With the modernization of us attempting to staff the fire house 24 hours a day to make a difference on calls, it gives us all of those accommodations from showers, to decontamination, to individual sleeping quarters, to everything that you could imagine as an amenity to make sure that your time there is well spent and respected.”
Firefighters will begin transitioning into the building beginning on Monday evening.
The old headquarters was located at 543 Main St. in Harmony. The site of the new building sits about a mile and a half away, where the former Hockenberger Motors was at 424 S. Main St. in Zelienople.
“To us it was really important because we wanted to be front and center in the community,” Garing said. “Just by driving by and seeing your fire department with firetrucks in the doors and people there, it’s a static display of presence. To people, that means a lot, and that’s why the doors are all glass.”
Another added benefit is the ease with which firefighters will be able to respond to calls.
“The people are going to be very appreciative (of the new department),” said Zelienople Mayor Thomas Oliverio. “I like the location of it even better than the one on Route 68 because when you’re on Main Street, you can head four different directions. When you’re on 68, there’s only really one way to go. It allows them to travel whatever direction they need to go.”
