According to a Feb. 24 email from Buck, the township is working with The Howard Hughes Corp. on several land issues, including the site identified by the township for Fire Station No. 5, which serves western portions of The Woodlands including Carlton Woods, Indian Springs and Sterling Ridge.
The station will need to be rebuilt at another location because of underlying soil issues that officials said will damage the integrity of the building over time, Buck said. The station was constructed in 2003, and it is operating until a replacement can be built, officials said.
At the same time, western portions of The Woodlands which are still seeing growth will benefit from the addition of a 10th township company that would operate out of that station, Buck said.
“We’ve seen a pretty big disparity with our ability to get an effective firefighting force in the recommended time,” Buck said.
As of 2021, a company of 14 firefighters—what is considered an effective firefighting force—can be on the scene within eight minutes 72% of the time on the east side of The Woodlands, but the west side is only able to do so 31% of the time, he said.
Facility needs
Plans to address facility needs were last discussed in August, but the township and department decided to wait until after the November incorporation election to move forward, according to Buck.
In the meantime, measures are being taken to ensure safe operation at Fire Station No. 5 until a new station can be built, Buck said.
The site identified for a new station is next to the Sterling Ridge Park and Ride on Ashlane Way, a property for which The Howard Hughes Corp. has first right of refusal, officials said. This means that any project slated for the site before 2023 would be subject to the company’s refusal. However, Howard Hughes has indicated it supports the project. A timeline for the land transfer was not immediately available from Howard Hughes or the township as of late February.
Managing growth
Although resident needs in the township have grown, with more than 13,000 calls to The Woodlands Fire Department in 2021 compared to 9,700 in 2020 and 11,300 in 2019, Buck said buildout in The Woodlands means that future increases will not significantly add to the demand.
“It increases every year as The Woodlands continues to grow, but at some point we’ll plateau,” he said in a phone interview.
The addition of a 10th company should address the current and expected immediate future demand, he said. The township is hoping a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be awarded this year through its Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program. A response could be learned as soon as June, Buck said.
With township officials engaged in strategic planning sessions throughout the year, Buck said projects to meet the department’s other needs are also expected to move forward in 2022, including a fire truck purchase. The purchase approved in 2021 was $925,000, and a second truck is slated in the fiscal year 2022 budget.
The trucks take two years to construct, and they will be delivered at the time they are needed, Buck said. Fire department targets needs The Woodlands Fire Department is planning to build a replacement for a structurally compromised fire station, and it is seeking a grant to add firefighters to address response challenges on the west side of the township.
