After the $9.5 million renovations began at the Fire District 1 Station in late October, Rescue 2 needed to find a new home.

In early December, STAT Ambulance Services, Inc., which has been the contracted company of choice for the town for more than 30 years, began work on its new property on Dartmouth Street, which is set to be completed by Tuesday, Jan. 7, according to STAT’s Ryan Cabral, who also serves as a fire captain in town.

In the meantime, Rescue 2 has been stationed with Rescue 3 at the District 2 Fire Station, according to District 2 Fire Chief Erick Turcotte. The town’s third ambulance, Rescue 1, remains at its location in the North Dartmouth STAT headquarters on Faunce Corner Road.

District 1 Fire Chief Peter Andrade explained the company initially joined the station in 2017 while the work was being completed on the Padanaram Bridge. Though the department knew these renovations would be coming up at some point, he said he had hoped the company would be able to rejoin them once completed. 

However, the presence of a private contracted company within the station could have an effect on the taxable status of the bond taken out to complete the work, according to Fire Prudential Committee Treasurer John Foster. This, he said, could cause a higher interest rate. 

He noted he didn’t believe the bonds were related to STAT’s non-return, but that it was ultimately up to the Prudential Committee.

Andrade said, “I would have had them back in a heart beat, but they chose to buy another spot so they could have consistency.”

“We are in the midst of a renovation here that’s really reaping havoc on us,” he said. “It’s not fun.”

The renovations, which aim to upgrade the garage and build a new office, required the department to set up a temporary dispatch and relocate the office to the apparatus floor where truck space would become further limited, he said. This, in combination with construction work in the parking lot, meant the company could not stay during the renovations. 

Andrade said in the long run, having their own location would be good for the ambulance company as they can have better living quarters and a guaranteed location. He noted if the town terminates the contract at any point, they would no longer be able to operate out of the station. 

He said it was noted at a Select Board meeting at some point during this transition that the company wasn’t given adequate time to relocate. However, he said this was not the case. 

Cabral agreed, stating no matter the time frame, it would have been difficult to find properly zoned property for their work in South Dartmouth, adding the department allowed them to stay as long as they could.

“We were at District 1 for years and we have nothing but an awesome relationship with those guys,” Cabral said.

After purchasing the 719 Dartmouth Street property, Cabral said the company was working “as fast as humanly possible” to get the garage completed, noting it has been going much quicker than his past personal experiences with subcontractors.

“Fortunately we’ve been around so long to have great relationships with the districts,” he said regarding the temporary stay at District 2. He said though they are letting the company stay through March, that certainly won’t be the case.

Andrade said during this transition, “The town should feel at no point there is a lack of response because we have over 30 EMTs in this department and we run a Class V ambulance,” which is certified to operate on-site, but doesn’t transport.

“They can feel confident that there’s no drop in coverage or less than a response,” he said.