New fire station helps AVFD improve response timesThe Atascocita Volunteer Fire Department opened a new station in April that updates the building’s outdated infrastructure and helps improve public safety in Atascocita.


The new Atascocita Fire Station
No. 1 is located near the intersection of West Lake Houston Parkway and FM 1960, where the previous Station No. 1 was razed in 2015.


The first Station No. 1 was constructed in 1978 and had undergone renovations that left it with three different electrical systems, plumbing systems and air conditioning systems, said Mike Mulligan, chief of department for Harris County Emergency Services District 46 and the AVFD.


“Over time those systems started to degrade and started to cost us more money for operation on an annual basis because things were breaking down,” Mulligan said. “It was hard to get replacement parts for it. Now you’re having to completely replace systems.”   


The $5 million station will speed up response times on the east end of the department’s coverage area, he said.


“The station, having been there in the past, gives us a presence on the east side of our service district,” Mulligan said. “We’ve been running calls from the middle of the district to that area, which increases our response time slightly … We’re returning it to the level that it was at in 2014.”


Station No. 1 houses the department’s Emergency Operations Center  and includes an online and mobile alert system called PURVIS Fire Station Alerting System. The department also installed a slide to replace the station’s pole—a notorious source of workplace injuries, Mulligan said.


New fire station helps AVFD improve response timesThe amenities of the new station allow Harris County ESD 46 and the AVFD to prepare for anticipated population growth in Atascocita, Mulligan said.


“As the area grows, we’ll be able to purchase [additional equipment]without building new infrastructure to support it,” Mulligan said.  


However, as new subdivisions in Atascocita on West Lake Houston Parkway begin to populate, the district will build a station near the southern edge of Atascocita, he said.


“We’re negotiating with developers for parcels of land to build another station on the southern portion of West Lake Houston in Atascocita,” he said. “We need another pumper and an ambulance on the south end of the district to cover the new Bridges on Lake Houston and The Groves subdivisions.”