02/23/2026
Plans for a sixth city fire station are underway after the Missoula City Council approved a conceptual design contract on Wednesday Jan 28th to nail down the specifics needed for the new building.
The council unanimously approved the contract with 45 Engineering for $125,000, which would allow the Missoula Fire Department to finalize needs for the station, including additional equipment required, and a design for the structure.
"We do not build fire stations very often," Missoula Fire Chief Lonnie Rash told the council Wednesday. "But when we do, we need to take a look at what we can maximize at a new build that may supplement all of our facilities. And then the final
part of this particular phase is the conceptual drawings."
The fire department is also looking to purchase land for the new station, specifically eyeing two properties located on Third Street between Russell and Reserve near the Franklin to the Fort and River Road neighborhoods, the Missoulian previously reported.
Rash said the design contract, which still needs final approval, would help identify the most feasible location for the sixth station. Previous studies have called for a station near Third Street to best meet the demands of the growing city. "The goal is that we want to get a design that pretty much says this is what we need,
and then we want to marry that to land in this area," Rash said.
Per the design agreement, 45 Engineering would work with an Idaho-based company as well as local designers on the project. 45 Engineering was selected out of 11 applicants, Rash said.
The new station would also house the city's Mobile Support Team, a fire departmentled agency that responds to residents experiencing mental health crises. Currently, the Mobile Support Team rents office space. The design team would also share an ongoing cost estimate for construction. Ward 3 Councilor Gwen Jones asked whether the new station could include sustainable energy features like solar panels, which exist on other fire stations in the city. Rash said solar panels are a possibility, but the design team will need to finalize the feasibility. If all goes to plan, Rash said the city could break ground on the fire station within the next year. The funding for the fire department expansion comes from a voterapproved fire levy in May 2024. Ward 5 Councilor Stacie Anderson supported the efforts, and said a new station near the Franklin to the Fort area makes sense based on high population growth there. "We are looking forward to keeping up as we grow," Anderson said. "We have a lot of conversations around density and changes to some of the neighborhoods, and to me, it makes more sense in that part of the city." As plans for a sixth station have progressed, the fire department has trained and put to work more than 20 new firefighters who will eventually staff the new location.
