After beginning construction last year, four new fire stations will open by fall 2016 to increase fire service and reduce response times to calls in the Tomball and Magnolia area.

New TFD station

The Tomball Fire Department plans to open its third station—Station No. 5—in late February on Telge Road, Chief Randy Parr said. The station was originally scheduled to open in late 2015 but was delayed due to inclement weather and electrical contract issues, he said.

At the Dec. 7 meeting, Tomball City Council voted 4-1 to extend a contract with Harris County Emergency Services District No. 15 for a 15-year term. As part of the contract, the ESD will put $260,000 toward three new driver operator positions to staff the new station, Parr said.

“Under the new agreement, the ESD continues to pay the city 50 percent of the assessed value of the taxes on a 3 cent tax rate,” Parr said. “So you take whatever the assessed value of the ESD is times the 3 cent tax rate and split that with the city. That’s projected to be about $121,000 coming to the city this year.”

Tomball City Council Member Mark Stoll voiced concerns during the meeting regarding TFD’s long-range plan for fire service and building new stations, such as Station No. 5, outside of city limits through the ESD contract.

“My question is, ‘Where does our responsibility start, and where does it stop?’” Stoll said. “I’m just not sold that we are getting fully reimbursed from what is costing us to cover areas not within the city limits of Tomball. I don’t agree with this concept of the fire stations being built on the outskirts of our city limits.”

Parr said it is vital for TFD to build stations 3 to 5 miles apart to ensure a response time of about five minutes during an emergency.

“There’s going to be 40,000 people living in this area in the next eight to 10 years,” Parr said. “What I’m asking [City Council] to allow us to do is get out in front of this, so it doesn’t cost us $15 a foot to buy land for a [new] fire station.”

New MVFD stations

The Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department plans to open each of its three new stations in Pinehurst, Magnolia and Montgomery this fall, Chief Gary Vincent said. The stations were originally slated to open in late 2015 but have experienced utility extension and inclement weather delays, he said.

MVFD has seen a budget increase from $3.6 million in October 2014 to more than $5 million in 2016 due to the 1 cent sales and use tax increase approved by Montgomery County Emergency Services District No. 10 voters in May 2014.

Since the passage of the sales tax increase, MVFD has installed part-time firefighters for two stations that were previously unmanned because of a lack of funding, Vincent said. The response time to emergency calls has also decreased from an average of eight minutes and five seconds to seven minutes and 31 seconds, he said.

“This is why we advocated for the sales tax because it’s going to pay dividends to the community for years and years to come,” Vincent said. “It’s a great investment by the taxpayer.”

Once the new stations open, Vincent said he anticipates the response time decreasing again because more stations will be available for calls within a required 5-mile driving radius.