New fire stations critical to future of WCESD#4

By CHRISTINE BOLAñOS.

When it comes to an emergency, every moment counts, and no one knows that better than the staff at Williamson County Emergency Services District #4. As the Liberty Hill area grows, there will be more emergency calls and the fire department will have to stretch its resources even further. That is why Fire Chief Anthony Lincoln believes opening additional fire stations is critical.

“We are expanding as fast as we can; as fast as the dollar signs will let us so we can provide closer services to them,” Lincoln explains.

The idea is to build fire stations in
subdivisions currently under construction or continually expanding. Liberty Hill’s only fire station is located at 301 Loop 332 inside the city limits. It is 7,000 square feet and has three pull-through truck bays. The facility was built in 1995 by the volunteer fire department, and when the ESD was established, 3,800 square feet and one EMS ambulance bay were added. It houses the fire administration, on-duty fire crews and one Williamson County EMS unit.

A second fire station is planned for the Santa Rita subdivision two miles north of State Highway 29 on Ronald Reagan Blvd. According to the 2015 Strategic Plan, the station should have at least two large bays and about 7,800 square feet. It will have at least one engine and one squad fire apparatus. The station will service the eastern portion of the ESD bordering the City of Georgetown and WCESD #8 response area.

The service area of the station’s southern border is with Leander and the northern border will be with Florence WCESD #7. The strategic plan called for designs for the fire station in January of this year and construction starting late 2016, followed by an opening in the last quarter of 2017. However, Lincoln says, due to delays, it is now expected to open in 2018.

“Now that I know our budget is in place, we can plan our timeline, anticipated growth and what we think the funding source will be for us,” Lincoln says. “The need for the services is there long before the tax base is there to pay for it. Sometimes it’s about a two-year curve.”

There are several factors considered when choosing a location for a future fire station. Lincoln said a homeowner’s insurance is typically rated by Insurance Service Office, or ISO, which uses a classification system of 1 to 10 to determine the price of fire insurance in a community. Part of that rating comes from whether a homeowner lives within five driving miles of a fire station and within 1,000 feet of a hydrant. The ESD takes this into account when deciding on a location for a new facility.

“When we’re designing a fire station, we’re designing one that can still be used 20 years from now,” Lincoln shares. “We don’t know what this community is going to look like. We want to handle whatever equipment and whatever number of people.”

The greatest factor in choosing Santa Rita was the area’s growth potential, which includes additional new neighborhoods such as Rancho Sienna, Cimarron Hills, Gabriels Overlook and Morningstar as well as a new school and other developments.

Lincoln estimates that once the fire station opens, response time could decrease from 8 to 10 minutes to 3 to 6 minutes.

Fire station 3 would go on County Road 200 near the Clear Water Ranch subdivision. According to the 2015 Strategic Plan, the facility would service the area north and west to the Burnet County line. Timeline for the station has yet to be determined, but growth trends indicate an opening date around 2021.

Fire station 4 would be located in the area of north U.S. 183 and FM 3405 intersection and would cover the northern boundary of WCESD #4. Fire station five would go in the area of FM 1869 west of Liberty Hill and would cover the western boundary to the Burnet and Travis County lines. Properties have not been dedicated for these facilities and timelines are more than six and 10 years out, respectively.

Lincoln says the facilities will be debt funded and purchased out over 20 years for payment of $20,000-$25,000 a month.

“Eventually, property tax will pay for itself and then free the sales tax to go over to the next station,” he explains. Sales tax is going to grow, too, but it’s too early to know.”

Since coming on board about 2008, Lincoln notes he has seen call volume increase, but not at a significant place. He reports about 1,200 calls a year, 10 percent of which are related to fire, and 65-68 percent are related to medical or EMS needs.

“The frequency seems to be picking up little by little but it hasn’t increased a ton,” Lincoln says. “In terms of population, traffic seems to have a lot to do with it.”

He noted an increase in traffic responses especially over the last couple of years. He said before, calls per year were closer to 1,000.

Though Lincoln could not provide an exact number of rooftops in the area serviced by the ESD, he did say Lt. James Oshell is working with the Forestry Service, to evaluate every neighborhood and its risk assessment. Results could be expected as early as December.

“Our portion goes into the Williamson County Risk Assessment Document for Emergency Management,” Lincoln explains. “Then we’ll use it to see strategically are there any areas we need to try to work on as far as mitigating any issues that are out there.”