Kansas fire district hiring, building new station ahead of new Panasonic plant
DE SOTO, Kan. – As a new Panasonic EV Battery Plant goes up in De Soto, development is beginning to boom nearby. That has the Northwest Consolidated Fire District working to prepare itself to protect that growth.
The department is adding more than just new positions to the fire district.
Deputy Fire Chief Mike Baxter said they’re adding six new positions to the team and building a new fire station, near the Panasonic Plant.
Baxter said they cover about 70 miles of northwest Johnson County, including the city of De Soto and building in the city, like what will be this $4 billion electric vehicle battery plant.
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The fire district is looking to hire six new people.
Baxter said right now, they have 35 operational firefighters. His position was created because of the Panasonic influx.
“So that’s going to help facilitate that extra call volume for this initial growth phase,” Baxter said. “Then we’ll be constantly reevaluating where we have to be at in the future.”
Baxter said crews will build a new fire station on about 10 acres, just outside the land Panasonic is currently developing.
The county pitched in $9 million, and Panasonic provided $7.5 million in funds to build the new station and a developer donated the land.
“That is slated to open by close of 2025,” Baxter said.
Baxter said Panasonic also donated $1.8 million to buy a new fire truck with a ladder.
“That’s going facilitate us to be able to gain access those taller commercial buildings that are coming in,” Baxter said, “as well as some of the residential structure fires that we have currently.”
In the meantime, Baxter and his team continue training to keep skills sharp.
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“We have been ramping up our training on EV or lithium battery fires,” Baxter said. “I will say Panasonic has a great plan in place for safety measures. So, the reality is, is we should not have an intervention within Panasonic unless there is a major catastrophic failure.”
If you’re interested in joining the fire department, the deadline is April 26.
