Waco to build 2 new fire stations in 4 years

Waco Fire Chief Gregory Summers said Station No. 4’s current facility at 1002 Speight Ave., built in 1960, is a small and outdated building on a lot with little room for expansion. The property — with about 3,500 square feet of living area and 4,000 square feet of paved area, according to the McLennan County Appraisal District — is too small to upgrade to meet the growing department’s needs and only has room to house one firetruck, he said.

“We have to move it off that property because the property is not big enough to update like we need to update for a present-day fire station,” Summers said.

The new station is planned for a lot on La Salle Avenue between Eighth and Ninth streets that the city bought from Baylor last year. Summers said it would have three bays able to house vehicles for the multi-company operation, with room for a fire engine, ladder truck and a third company vehicle. The three-bay setup is similar to the proposed design for Fire Station No. 15.

Also in line with current designs, Station No. 4 will upgrade to Jack-and-Jill bathrooms to support separate living quarters for male and female firefighters, Summers said.

“It’s not new in the fire service, but the older your fire stations, less likely they are gender-friendly,” he said.

Each new station will be equipped with large washing machines made to extract carcinogens from firefighters’ gear, which Station No. 4 does not currently have the plumbing capacity for, he said.

A request to start the design phase will go to city council late this year, with selection of a design firm slated for April or May of next year, according to a presentation Summers gave to the council last month. The project has a preliminarily budget of about $7 million, with substantial completion slated for 2027.

The building on La Salle Avenue will sit next to the former Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce site, which Council Member Alice Rodriguez said is still occupied by the owner, Cen-Tex Community Projects Inc. She said she likes the mission revival-style architecture presented last month, with stucco walls and a tower, to keep the consistency of the look of buildings in the La Salle Avenue corridor.

Summers said the fire department does not have plans for the existing facility on Speight Avenue and he is not yet sure if it will house other city operations or if it will be sold.

“At this point I don’t know what those plans are, but there’s nothing that we can do with it in its current location or condition that it’s in,” he said. “And it’s not a bad fire station. It’s just outdated.”

Fire Station No. 15

Summers said Station No. 15 at 10905 Panther Way, next to a city water tower along Ritchie Road, will take priority over Station No. 4’s relocation, given a lack of coverage in the area.

He said the new facility is almost out of its design phase.

The closest fire station to the new location is No. 14 in Speegleville or No. 11 on Imperial Drive. Taking Imperial Drive to Hewitt Drive is a straight shot into the area that Station No. 15 would cover, but response times vary and lag from their goal of 6 minutes, depending on traffic, Summers said.

“The response time for Station 11, which are more than likely to be the first station to get there, is anywhere from 6 to 10 minutes, and it varies … depending on traffic, the time of day,” he said.

“We have not had an issue. I don’t anticipate us having an issue in getting there, but if we’re going to cover the city like it needs to be covered, then we need to make sure we have adequate protection.”

The area near Hewitt and Woodway has seen rapid residential growth in recent years, including the 1,000-home Park Meadows subdivision.

The new location was chosen with input from the Insurance Services Office, a third-party entity that ranks fire departments based on their performance on a 100-point scale, Summers said. The ISO assesses how prepared a community is to respond to fires and determines where fire stations are needed. Its ratings affect property insurance rates.

“When they looked at our city, they identified that we need a fire station out here,” he said. “And so we began to look at putting that into the budget process to make the city aware of where we need a fire station.”

The department as a whole is scored out of 50 points, looking at how many firefighters the department has, how many trucks it has, what kind of equipment it has and the amount of training done monthly. For 40 points ISO scores the department’s water supply, and 10 points are allocated for dispatch.

Waco scored about 97 points, sitting in the highest rank, Class 1, Summers said.

Station No. 15 should have a finalized design this month, with a request for proposals going out for contractors next month and construction starting by the end of the year. The department is looking to move into the new facility in early 2025, he said.

According to Summers’ presentation to the city council, the construction project’s budget is $5.46 million.

Summers said the department has started the hiring process for firefighters to staff Station No. 15, seven already hired and working in Waco with five more on the way in October. When the station opens it will be fully staffed with trained firefighters, and promotions for a captain, two lieutenants and three drivers will come from within the department, he said.

Taking salary, benefits and uniforms into account, hiring one firefighter costs about $93,000, totaling some $1.1 million to staff the new station, Summers said.