Washington Parish Fire District 3’s new central fire station in Hackley is complete and set to welcome visitors with a grand opening ceremony next month.

President Justin Porche invited Parish Council members, Parish President Richard Thomas and the public to the grand opening on April 23 at 2 p.m. The station is 4,900 square feet and located on Louisiana Highway 430 in Hackley.

District 3 also serves the Hayes Creek, Clifton and Warnerton communities.

Porche said the new station, which will serve as the central station, is a big improvement over the fire department’s previous facilities. It is much larger, and the district will have an office for the first time in its history.

He said the district is in the process of closing two stations. One of those is in Hayes Creek on La. 38, and the other is located on La. 430 about a mile north of the new station.

Since the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana requires fire stations to serve a 7-mile radius, the district will be keeping its station in Clifton, which is located on La. 25 at Bateman Road.

Porche also brought it to the Parish Council’s attention that the Hayes Creek station is a polling place for voters.

Once the process is completed with the Secretary of State’s office, the polling place will move to the new fire station in Hackley.

Thomas said the parish is aware of and is working on the issue, and he does not expect the change to take place until after the spring elections.

District 3 will keep the lease on the Hayes Creek station until the polling place transfer is done, and then the station will be closed and the property returned to the landowner, Porche said.