BATON ROUGE,LA (NBC33) — The Baton Rouge Fire Department broke ground on the new Wooddale Fire Station # 8, today. The fire station replaces the one currently located on Lobdell.

The new fire station will be 8400 square feet and cost a little over 2 million dollars.

For the past five years, the Baton Rouge fire department has built 7 new fire stations. Baton Rouge Fire Chief Ed Smith says the Wooddale station is the 8th and final station to be built.

"It's just a great opportunity to replace a station that's starting to have wear and tear and up keep,"said Fire Chief Ed Smith.

The new fire station will also house a backup communications system for the department.