JOHNS CREEK, GA — The city of Johns Creek has a new fire station with renovations aimed to help firefighters stay healthier.
Besides new weight and cardio machines, Fire Station 63 has made heart-healthy changes to its intercom and alert system using ramped up tones instead of jarring alarms.
Fire Chief Jeff Johansen says the old station had the hundred decibel tones to alert their crews, which can cause serious health problems.
“Throughout somebody’s career, firefighter’s career, consistently having those alarms go off is one of the reasons why cardiovascular incidents are such an issue in the fire service,” he said.
He can now control the loudness and only sound off in certain areas of the station so firefighters sleeping in the dorms won’t be woken up unless they need to be.
“If they’re not required to respond to that call, they won’t get woken up, so that promotes better sleep for firefighters and reduces stress,” said Johansen.
The new fire station will share the building with Johns Creek Police. According to Johansen, being under one roof will help law enforcement respond to incidents quicker and more efficiently.