Local officials were on hand Wednesday morning to break ground the fifth Travis County ESD 2 fire station, an undertaking emergency response officials say is necessary to serve a growing population.

Travis County ESD 2 Fire Station 5, located at 1541 W. Pflugerville Loop, Pflugerville, will feature three bays for housing emergency vehicles, sleeping quarters for ten firefighters and training quarters by the time it opens in ten months.

Ron Moellenberg, fire chief for Travis County ESD 2, said the new station will include an ambulance and an "aerial device" to help fight fires.

"To say that this station will be needed is an understatement. We're already planning the equipment that comes into this station," Moellenberg said Wednesday.

The district now serves more than 131,000 residents in its 78-square-mile coverage area, according to Moellenberg, and the district said in a Sept. 14 news release that it handles approximately 10,000 calls every year.

Officials say the new station is a crucial tool to get ahead of demand caused by Pflugerville's growth. Travis County ESD 2 stated in its news release that Fire Station 5 is located in an identified "area of need".

"The way you address response times in a community is not drive faster ... but is in the placement of neighborhood fire stations so that you deliver the service in the neighborhood where it is need, and that’s what this is all about," Moellenberg said Wednesday.

Records from the Travis County ESD 2 Board of Commissioners show the district estimates the new fire station to cost approximately $4.4 million, and district officials expect the building to be finished by summer 2019. Costs for Fire Station 5 will be paid for through a Government Capital Corporation loan, according to a Travis County ESD 2 news release.