LAPLACE — You’ll have to forgive Cain Dufrene.

Like a new dad or, better yet, a new homeowner, Dufrene, the Chief of Operations for the St. John the Baptist Parish Office of Fire Services, is a little proud to show off his new digs — Fire Station #51.

Currently under construction on Hemlock Street in LaPlace, the 10,500 square foot, $2.9 million structure, funded through sale tax and revenue bonds, is slightly behind schedule, but should be completed in October. When it’s done, the Hemlock Street Station should be the jewel in the crown of the parish’s 17 fire stations.

“It’s going to be really nice,” Dufrene said. “We’re absolutely excited.”

It was time for an upgrade. The original Hemlock Street Station was built in 1962 and was the first to boast a two-bay garage. It sustained significant damage from Hurricane Betsy in 1965 and again during Hurricane Isaac in 2012. Isaac also alerted local officials that the station was the only one not built in a flood zone.

Isaac taught many such lessons, Dufrene said.

“Before, the district was led by four independent fire chiefs,” Dufrene said. “In 2012, they were all kind of stuck at their jobs so they really couldn’t come out for the hurricane. There wasn’t a command and control element. So, the parish leaned towards getting somebody to oversee the operation.”

That somebody turned out to be Dufrene, a native of LaPlace, who has worked for the department since 1999. He became Chief of Operations in 2013.

He oversees the St. John fire department, which is a combination of full time and volunteer staff. There are 43 “career staff” parish-wide, who work 24-hour shifts, from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m., when they are available to respond to any emergency. They are supplemented by a contingent of approximately 49 volunteers who respond when able and depending on the severity of the call.

There are a total of 17 fire stations in the parish, six of which are manned at all times.

The new Hemlock Station will be the most centralized location, which will increase response times.

“It’s going to let us reposition some of our career staff to get them more central,” Dufrene said. “It gets us a lot closer to the center of town and puts our resources in a more central location. We can get anywhere quicker from here than from any of our other locations. It’s really going to increase response times, getting that first gear on scene quick, making that initial knock down, that initial rescue. Plus, it has the room to accommodate all of us.”

The new facility will have a kitchen, a multi-purpose room, a gymnasium, showers for men and women and four bedrooms, each capable of housing up to four fire fighters. More important, the bay area will be able to accommodate the much larger and more modern fire trucks of the day, like the three purchased just a few months ago.

These trucks carry 750 gallons of water and are capable of pumping 1,500 gallons per minute. The Rescue Foam Truck, which Dufrene helped design, carries 900 gallons of water plus 100 gallons of foam for hazardous materials fires. It can pump more than 2,000 gallons per minute and has equipment for vehicle extractions and rescues off of bridges and overpasses.

“It has everything,” he said.