No one can predict an emergency, but when one arises, first responders are needed at the scene as quickly as possible.
Better response times are part of what went into selecting sites for two new fire stations nearing completion in Round Rock.
“Our goal is to be out the door in 2 minutes, and be on the scene within 4 minutes,” said Shane Glasier, Round Rock fire battalion chief. And that 4-minute goal was a critical piece of the location-selection puzzle.
The department used Geographic Information System mapping to help select ideal locations to address emergency calls and arrive at the scene within the targeted time frame.
The new stations, Fire Station No. 4 at 1301 Double Creek Drive, and fire station No. 8, at 1612 Red Bud Lane, are both within a quarter mile of where the GIS mapping system selected as optimal locations for the stations.
The new stations will have gender-friendly features to allow firefighters to work and live more comfortably. Instead of open room dorm areas found in older stations, the new stations have individual dorm rooms and restroom facilities.
“It’s just like being at home,” Glasier said. “You shut the door, male or female, it doesn’t matter, you have your own private room.”
That can be important for effective firefighting. Glasier said firefighters with the Round Rock Fire Department work for 24 hours and then take off for 48 hours, meaning a firefighter will spend one-third of a year at work in the fire station when not on calls or in training.
And training for police officers and firefighters will soon have new meaning, as Round Rock breaks ground this month on a new public safety training center at 2701 N. Mays St.
Currently, police officers and firefighters train in surrounding communities, which can be problematic. Whenever a fire truck is taken out of the area for training, one less truck is available should an emergency arise.
The new training center will not only keep public safety personnel in the city while training, it allows training opportunities for neighboring departments as well.
“If you want anything like it right now, you will have to go up to the the Dallas area, or you have to go to San Antonio,” Glasier said.
Each of the new fire stations cost $4.1 million to build, and the training center is estimated at $22.5 million, all of which are paid for by bond funds approved by voters in 2013.
Glasier said the new stations are an investment in the future of the department.
“These stations have the dorm spaces already there to where we can add an additional company without having to add on to the station,” Glasier said. “It’s really there, so as the city grows, we just have to put a truck in, and we can go on with business.”
City officials said due to rain earlier this year, the opening of the fire stations is now December.
