Helena City Commission approves $5.9M bid for 3rd fire station

In exchange for $5.9 million, Helena’s long-awaited third fire station is on its way.

However, until voters approve more funding, it won't have enough fire crew to operate.

The Helena City Commission approved a bid from Bozeman-based R&R Taylor Construction at a Dec. 8 meeting.

According to its website, R&R Taylor Construction has also built fire stations in Fort Ellis and Bozeman.

Helena’s third fire station will be at 1872 Kelleher Lane, and the city aims to complete it by April 2027, documents state.

The new station will have an on-campus training area and expanded office space. A training tower will be built separately with a different bid.

Dowling Architects designed the building, with engineering services by Morrison-Maierle and consultation from Shive-Hattery.

A third fire station has been in the works since 2006, when early evaluations reported the city was outgrowing its two-station model.

The big problem lies in Helena’s fire response time. The national standard for fire response was six and a half minutes, but Helena Fire hovered around 12 minutes in 2022, according to previous IR reporting.

Both completed fire stations are south of the train tracks, opposite from where the town is steadily expanding. The city has cited slow emergency response times to push for an underpass where the railroad crosses Montana Avenue.

“Approximately 30% of the fire department’s calls for service are on the north side of the railroad track,” city documents filed for Monday’s meeting state. “Having a station on the north side will greatly improve response times.”

In June 2024, voters narrowly passed $7 million in bonds to fund the station.

Even with a third fire station, response times won’t get any faster without a bigger crew, Fire Chief Jon Campbell previously told the Independent Record.

A staffing levy ran alongside the stations bond in 2024 and failed with 55% disapproval.

Campbell wouldn’t be able to split his crew between three buildings, he said. While a station north of the tracks is needed, the two southern stations at the Helena Civic Center and 650 Hannaford St. are better placed for emergency response.

As of December 2025, 34 fire suppression staff are listed on the city’s website.

Although the new station could be used for training or offices, Campbell said Helena won’t see better emergency services until it finds a way to fund staff.