That is according to Nicholas Perkins, chief of Travis County Emergency Services District No. 2, who was one of several community leaders to speak at a Feb. 11 groundbreaking for what will be the district's sixth fire station.
The groundbreaking took place at 17221 Weiss Lane, Pflugerville, and leaders from Pflugerville ISD, Travis County and ESD 2 spoke during the roughly 45-minute ceremony.
Perkins said once complete the new station will have three bays and house an aerial apparatus, or ladder truck, as well as a pickup truck that can provide more maneuverability for certain calls.
Initial construction cost estimates for the new station were about $7.2 million, but Perkins said that has risen in recent weeks to about $7.4 million.
PfISD donated the land for the new station, and Superintendent Doug Killian said that was a move that simply made sense.
"I'm here really to celebrate what our fire department has done for us," Killian said. "ESD 2 has been an amazing partner for [PfISD]."
Within the school district, Hendrickson High School has a fire academy, he said, and added it also stands to benefit PfISD simply because so many district students, staff and parents live in the area.
Both ESDs and school districts tend to follow growth wherever it goes, he said, so it makes sense that the two entities should help each other whenever possible.
Perkins said Fire Station No. 6 will sit on an area of eastern Pflugerville next to Weiss High School that is categorized somewhere between urban and rural.
Right now, response times for emergency calls in that area are about 12 minutes. Perkins said Fire Station No. 6 will bring that figure down to below eight minutes, and he added that rapid growth in the area means it cannot come soon enough.
"In three years' time, we've added a minute to response times throughout the district," Perkins said. "That's how important it is. We need to get these things up and running."
