The Town of Dennis, MA is located in the mid-Cape area of Cape Cod. It was first settled in 1639 and Incorporated in 1793. The town covers about 20.5 square miles, with a population around 15,000 year round and many more during the summer season.
Dennis borders Cape Cod Bay to the north and Nantucket Sound to the south. There are busy harbors, bays, and rivers on both coasts. The town is bordered to the west by the Town of Yarmouth, and to the east by the towns of Brewster and Harwich. The mid-Cape highway (Route 6) is the major east-west highway that essentially cuts the town in half with a north side and a south side.
There are several villages within the town. Dennis and East Dennis are located on the north side. South Dennis is about in the middle of the town. West Dennis and Dennisport are in the south side of the town. Route 6A also runs east-west in the northern villages and Route 28 runs east-west in the southern villages. Route 134 runs north - south essentially through the middle of the town connecting Route 6A with Route 6 and Route 28.
The Dennis Fire Department began back in the early 1930s, around 1932 officially. The first fire stations were actually in repurposed wooden school houses. Station 1 was in South Dennis and Station 2 was on the north side in Dennis.
In 1949, a new Fire-Police Station was built on Route 28 in West Dennis replacing the original South Dennis Station 1. The police eventually moved into their own facility. The new station was headquarters and was where permanent staffing was located for many years. The ambulances only came out of there until about 2013. That station was used until torn down when the current Dennis Fire Headquarters replaced it in 1999.
The north side school house station was replaced in 1956 when a new Station 2 was built. The small wooden two bay station was strictly a call station until minimally staffed in the early 2000s. By about 2013 the call volume had increased enough to warrant putting an ambulance on the north side. The station was never built for 24/7 staffing, so as 3 and eventually 5 full time personnel were assigned to the station it became obvious that something needed to be done to support this staffing.
After a number of attempts, Dennis Town Meeting approved the new station on November 2, 2021. On December 7, 2021, Dennis voters approved funding for the construction of a new "North Side" Dennis Station 2 by a vote of 722 YES to 153 NO votes. $14.6 Million was approved to build an appropriate station at 350 Paddocks Path, between Old Bass River Road and Hokum Rock Road.
The new station is planned to be about 14,400 square feet. The living quarters side of the building will be 2 stories including living and training areas. The apparatus bays will be three wide, double deep drive through. With the approval in December 2021, site preparation was able to begin almost immediately with an estimated 14 month building schedule.
The Dennis Fire Department operates (2) Fire Stations. It operates 4 Engines, 1 Aerial Ladder, 1 brush truck, 4 ambulances, a dive truck, several boats, and a number of utility vehicles. Staffing includes a Fire Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief, 4 Captains, 4 Lieutenants, 4 Sr Privates, and 36 Firefighters. There are 12 members in each of the 4 groups, with a minimum of 10 per shift (5 at Station 1 and 5 at Station 2). Dennis responded to 5,030 incidents in 2020.
The ground breaking ceremony was held on Thursday January 13, 2022. Officials enjoyed a mild 40's sunny day as the official groundbreaking took place. Many members of the community who have been waiting for this moment for many years turned out to be a part of history.
留言