The City of Bismarck is moving ahead with a city-owned site in south Bismarck for Fire Station #6, west of Washington Street near Calypso Drive, with a price tag of about $6.5 million, according to a city news flash posted Oct. 13, 2026. The release says an additional fire engine and equipment will be in service in early 2027.
The details
- Where: Near Burleigh Avenue and Calypso Drive, about a half mile south of the city's Wastewater Treatment Plant, the release says. City staff compared several locations along Washington Street and Burleigh Avenue using fire data and GIS mapping, the release says.
- Cost: About $6.5 million, per the release. The Oct. 13 commission minutes say the architect put estimated construction cost at $6.4 million.
- Timeline: The minutes say the project was scheduled for bidding in late October. Neither the release nor the minutes gives a construction start or opening date.
- The building: A brick-veneer face and a multi-pitched metal roof, the release says. The minutes add a drive-through apparatus bay, 4,000 square feet of living quarters and 6,300 square feet of operational space.
Why south Bismarck
"Selecting this location was the result of data-driven decision making that will ultimately help bring the Fire Department's response times back under what we feel are appropriate thresholds for that far south part of Bismarck," Fire Chief Joel Boespflug said in the release.
The minutes say the chief told commissioners that growth and response-time standards now warrant a south-side station, which will help keep the city's ISO rating of 1. The Fire Department's ISO page calls that the best rating possible and a factor in property insurance premiums.
How it's being paid for
The release says the station will be funded with dollars previously identified by earlier commissions. In September 2025, commission minutes record a plan, outlined by the city's finance director, to use $20 million from the city's unrestricted reserves for one-time capital projects, including Fire Station 6 and new fire trucks. Staffing has been added gradually since 2023, the release says, and those crews work from the south fire station until the new one opens.
How we got here
The commission approved an agreement with EAPC for architectural services on July 22, 2025, as part of its consent agenda (minutes). In September 2025, the chief presented the city-owned site at Burleigh and Calypso to commissioners as the proposed location. The Oct. 27, 2026 commission agenda had no Fire Station #6 item.
Sources:
- City of Bismarck news flash, Oct. 13, 2026
- City Commission minutes, Oct. 13, 2026
- City Commission minutes, July 22, 2025
- City Commission agenda packet, July 22, 2025
- City Commission minutes, Sept. 9, 2025
- City Commission minutes, Sept. 23, 2025
- City Commission agenda, Oct. 27, 2026
- Bismarck Fire Department ISO rating page
