CRESTVIEW — Given the City Council’s consensus, City Clerk Betsy Roy and Fire Chief Joe Traylor are continuing to explore possibly acquiring land in the Old Bethel Road vicinity for a new fire station.
That section of northwest Crestview is widely considered the city’s next growth area, but residents and businesses are under-served by fire protection services, Traylor has said.
Under Homeland Security and national fire prevention standards, fire departments should be able to respond to a fire call within four minutes. Much of the Old Bethel area is outside that response time.
If a sufficient percentage of the city’s population ends up living in the Old Bethel Area, not having a manned firehouse in the area could increase all city residents’ fire insurance costs under national Insurance Services Office standards, Traylor said.
“You’re looking at 6,000 people not unrealistically,” Traylor said, which could be up to a quarter of Crestview’s population. “It would have an overall negative effect on the city’s ISO rating.”
Traylor and Public Works Director Wayne Steele said while a fire station could be squeezed into a 1-acre lot, 2 acres is more realistic and would include sufficient space to maneuver fire trucks in and out of the station, and could also accommodate stormwater retention and adequate parking.
Traylor said a location right on Old Bethel Road would be ideal to provide faster response times.
Council President Shannon Hayes said it is prudent to research land acquisition now, not when the expected build-up is underway and the need becomes urgent.
“We’ve got to start looking now,” Hayes said. “If we wait until we need one, the citizens who live there are going to be up here jumping on the council.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview officials seek Old Bethel firehouse land