photo courtesy ESD 8South Montgomery County Fire Station No. 11-2 opens Oct. 12 at 30710 Aldine Westfield Road. The station, operated by the South Montgomery County Fire Department and Emergency Services District No. 8, serves an area of about 50 square miles in southeast Montgomery County, including the Imperial Oaks neighborhood, Legends Estates and Legends Ranch.
"We have been trying to be sure and locate our fire stations in areas that would lower our response times to be closer to what we have now at our other four stations," said James Kelly, president of the Emergency Services District board of directors.
The 9,500-square-foot station includes three bays for a booster engine, a large Class A fire truck and a mobile command unit.
Fire Chief Robert Hudson said the station will be staffed 24/7 by a five-member team, including a battalion chief, lieutenant, emergency operator and two firefighters.
"The design of the fire station was set up to blend in with the community," he said. "We didn't want it to have that commercial fire station feel to it. We had it designed to look more like a home."
The new station cost $3 million, which was paid for by ESD No. 8. The ESD is funded by an ad valorem property tax, as well as a 1 percent sales tax within most areas of the ESD 8 boundaries.
Kelly said the goal of the South Montgomery County Fire Department is to achieve an ISO rating of 1, the highest rating a fire department can have.
"One of the benefits of that is to lower insurance rates for homeowners and businesses," he said. "In a Class 1 district, your commercial insurance goes way down."
