Published: Jul. 15, 2024 at 7:09 PM CDT|Updated: 13 hours ago
DENISON, Texas (KXII) -
The city of Denison is considering building a new fire station and moving an existing one to help cover rapidly-growing areas in
the city.
“During the budget retreat, that’s when we set our set our goals and explain to the city council our needs,” Denison Fire Chief Kenneth Jacks said.
In that conversation, Jacks said he talked about potentially building a new fire station to help support Denison’s upcoming 3,114 acre Preston Harbor development.
“The growth up there is exploding,” Jacks said. “It’s going to be a little mini city. With 7,500 to 10,000 homes with 3.2 people per home, on average, that doubles the population of Denison right there ... the closest station is Station 2 and it’s a 20 minute response which is unacceptable.”
Along with the potential new station, Jacks also proposed moving Fire Station 2.
As of right now, there’s a coverage overlap between Station 1 and Station 2 - the idea is to potentially move Station 2 to the other side of town, possibly near the new high school or somewhere on the other side of US 75 to help extend the coverage area.
“The east side was
the beginning of Denison and so that’s where all the fire stations were,” Jacks said. “Now it’s going on the other side, so that’s where our new stations need to be.”
As far as timing is concerned on the new station, Jacks says they need to start planning now.
“The first home should be built and people living in them within 2 to 3 years,” Jacks said. “We need to have that
station staffed and fully functional when the first toilets are flushing up there.”
