Oak Ridge North to house new fire station

The South Montgomery County Fire Department is relocating Oak Ridge North's Fire Station 3, along with the department headquarters, to a new location along Robinson Road, to the east of Hanna Road, officials said.

Crews are set to break ground on the 30,590-square-foot facility within the month, and they expect to complete the project by fall 2015.

"A couple of years ago we bought a piece of property on Robinson Road that was available and made plans to move that facility at some point, and that point is now," Fire Chief Robert Hudson said.

The expansion allows both the crew and staff to continue growing as the community develops.

The $8.3 million facility will feature a large operation space, a three bay station, larger crew quarters, a larger training room, a burn simulator, a maintenance bay and ample office space, Hudson said.

"We have basically outgrown Station 3 because at one point that was a volunteer station back in the early 70s," Hudson said. "As our department grew we added additional staff in that station to the point that there is just no more room for anything."

The station will service the Oak Ridge North area, the western portion of Imperial Oaks, Chateau Woods, White Oak Estates areas and run just south of Rayford Road, Hudson said.