The Kenyon Fire Hall held an open house Saturday for their new facility and organizers believe between 350 and 400 people attended the event.

KDHL did a live broadcast from the open house thanks to Held Bus Service, Security State Bank Kenyon, Kenyon Ace Hardware and Kenyon Senior Living.

I visited with many people during our broadcast from Kenyon City Council members and firefighters to residents of the community taking in the event.

Mayor Mike Engel, City Council members and Kenyon Fire leadership cut a ribbon just before the open house began with the Kenyon Veterans Color Guard conducting a flag-raising ceremony.

All the people I spoke with agreed this day was long overdue and the facility constructed made it well worth the wait.

The Kenyon Volunteer Fire Department serves a 90-square-mile area around Kenyon, including the city and seven townships.

The former home for the Kenyon Volunteer Fire Department was built in 1916 and I could find no information about when the facility began usage as a fire hall.

I was told by an elderly former Kenyon resident I visited with on the radio the fire hall was at a different location in the downtown area when he was a boy, which would be in the 1940s.

Firefighters are elated they get to house all their trucks in one facility. Previously the trucks were kept at three locations.

The current home has a hose tower where the fire hoses are dried out. Previously they laid the hoses on the ground and turned them every so often, which decreased the life of the hoses.

A new commercial washer is believed to help get rid of the carcinogens absorbed in the firefighters' clothing.

There's a nice kitchen but no appliances or cupboards yet. Kenyon firefighters told me they will attempt to raise money for those items.

There's a Chief's Office, Treasurer's Office and File Room. A trophy case with various artifacts from the past and of course some trophies.

Below are some of the pictures I took.

 

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