A service of Salisbury University and University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New Wallops Fire Station After Antares Rocket Explosion

nasa.tv

There will be a new $6 million fire station on Wallops Island.

Construction is set to begin later in July and is expected to be completed a year from now.

The current fire station was established thirty years ago and was supposed to be temporary.

But the failure of the Antares rocket that exploded just second after liftoff at the Wallops Flight Facility has spurred construction after a half a decade of planning.

Currently, the fire station has to be evacuated every time there is a rocket launch like the Antares.

So the new facility will be a couple of miles further away.

It will still be on Wallops Island which will reduce response times.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.