Fire Chief Shane Felts is excited. Construction of the department’s new fire station is underway with workers on scene daily. On Wednesday, they held their official groundbreaking ceremony.

They actually held two groundbreakings to accommodate the schedules of firefighters, local officials and fire district board members. The morning groundbreaking is pictured above. The evening ceremony is below.

Felts says the new fire station will be large enough to park all of the department’s vehicles inside the large bay on the north side of the building. There are accommodations for firefighters on duty plus offices and kitchen on the south side of the building.

Special guest at the evening groundbreaking was Chief Bobby Hayes of DeSoto Fire District 9. Hayes loaned the plans for his station in DeSoto parish to Red River after Chief Felts saw and liked the design of Hayes’ station.

The new fire station is under construction on US 71 north of Coushatta at the intersection with US 371. Expected Completion date is in December 2017. Felts said the total price tag on the new station is $3,000,000.