Arlington Fire Department has proposed adding second station
Arlington could soon have a second fire company to provide faster response times to residents south of Interstate 40.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen gave Town of Arlington staff the authority to move forward with plans for the second fire company and station during a meeting Monday night. Funding is yet to be approved.
“As the town grows, so does the need for infrastructure,” Arlington Mayor Mike Wissman said.
He hopes the station will be in operation by next July 1. The plan would increase fire and rescue call response times for more than 2,000 residents south of I-40.
The new fire company would be housed temporarily in the existing Fire Station 71 on Douglas Street, Arlington Fire Chief James Harvill said. Eventually, the second company would relocate to a station a mile to two miles south of I-40 off Airline Road.
“The quicker you can get fire personnel on the scene, the better off it is both for the firefighters and the population that we protect,” Harvill said.
The population growth of 414 percent over the past 20 years has made it difficult for fire personnel to respond to calls at the National Fire Protection Association recommendation of less than five minutes, according to Harvill.
The current station can only serve about 60 percent of the town’s residents, he said.
Arlington firefighters work with the Shelby County Fire Department under a mutual aid agreement to provide adequate coverage to the town.
“Without this agreement, we would not have the required manpower to safely extinguish a basic residential house fire,” Harville wrote in the proposal. “I feel like this is a great benefit to us but creates more cost for our neighboring department providing the aid.”
Funding for the proposed fire company and station will be discussed throughout the next budget cycle, Wissman said.
“It’s definitely needed,” he said. “I’m excited to see that we can show we are growing with the needs of our town.”