No plans have been put to paper, but the city of Vicksburg has acquired the site for its next fire station.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen Monday approved the purchase of 2.2 acres of land at the corner of Maxwell Drive and Berryman Road off East Clay Street from Waring Investments for $400,000 to build the proposed new fire station.

“It’s just one more step closer to having our next fire station, and I hope it’s real soon,” Fire Chief Charles Atkins said. He said no plans have yet been discussed and no date has been set for the board to begin talking about building the proposed station.

City officials had previously discussed buying land in east Vicksburg for a new station, and in December approved a resolution to make an offer on the site, which is off East Clay Street behind Pizza Inn.

Money for the purchase comes from a $1.6 million allocation for a new fire station in the city’s $9.2 capital improvements budget. City Attorney Nancy Thomas said the sale could be closed within 90 days.

City officials had discussed building a new station in east Vicksburg for several years to have better and quicker access to accidents on Interstate 20, the multi-story hotels in the Clay Street area and Merit Health River Region Medical Center, which falls under the fire department’s responsibility.

“I think it’s important that we secure the property, seeing has how we’re not ready to build a fire station, since we’ve had issues staffing the stations we have now,” South Ward Alderman Willis Thompson said. “We do need to address the inadequacies that we have in our coverage along the East Clay Street area.”