DeKalb County breaks ground Thursday, Sept. 24, on an $11.1 million fire station in Decatur with zones that separate contaminated gear from crew living spaces to cut firefighters' cancer exposure.

The new Station No. 16 is part of a six-station SPLOST-funded program that includes Station No. 28, planned for the Johnson's Ferry Road and Blackburn Park area in Brookhaven. DeKalb County Fire Rescue serves Dunwoody and Brookhaven directly, and SPLOST Program Manager Chris Kingsbury said at a Sept. 3 groundbreaking that three stations are under construction and three more are in design.

The two-story, 14,601-square-foot facility at 4242 Arthur J. Queen Drive will replace the current Station No. 16 on Pleasant Wood Drive, which has been in service since 1967. The project is funded through the county's Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) program, according to the county's media advisory.

The station splits work areas into "hot" and "cold" zones. Soiled turnout gear and laundry stay in a dedicated space away from sleeping and dining quarters. The layout limits crews' exposure to cancer-causing substances by keeping contaminants out of living areas, the county said.

The facility will also include individual sleeping quarters, a commercial-grade kitchen, a workout room, separate restrooms for all crew, and a multipurpose room for community use.

Station No. 16 follows the same blueprint as Fire Station No. 5 in Tucker, which broke ground Sept. 3. That $10.5 million station also features hot and cold zones and replaces a facility built in 1955. A third station, No. 27, is planned for the Lithonia area near the Rockdale-Gwinnett county line.

At the Station No. 5 ceremony, DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson stressed that the projects depend on SPLOST revenue. "… Independent of our SPLOST dollars, we would not be moving forward with this project," she said at the Sept. 3 event, as reported by Decaturish.

The ceremony begins at 10 a.m.

Scheduled speakers include Cochran-Johnson, District 3 Commissioner Nicole Massiah, Super District 7 Commissioner LaDena Bolton, Kingsbury, Public Safety Director Darnell Fullum, and Fire Chief Melvin Carter. The event will air live on DCTV, Comcast Channel 23.

No projected completion date for Station No. 16 has been announced.