New Braunfels FD planning new stations

New Braunfels Fire Station No. 2 on Loop 337 is more than 30 years old, and time is one enemy even firefighters cannot fight.

“It has served its purpose and has done so for over 30 years, but it is time to move,” Fire Chief John Robinson said. “It is just not satisfactory anymore.”

At issue is not whether new fire stations will get built but when and how much money will be spent.

RPGA, Inc., based in the DFW area, has developed plans for two fire stations in New Braunfels. Funding in the amount of $365,000 for development contracts already has been approved by City Council. However, city council made it clear at a June 22 meeting that proposed design costs, though under $365,000, were too high.

“The council had some very good questions about the pricing,” Assistant City Manager Robert Camareno said, “and wanted us to go back and see if we could bring the price down or come back and provide answers to some of the questions they had (about costs).”

Camareno and Robinson will renegotiate with the architects and return in August with RPGA’s response.

“The architects are more than willing to come in and visit with the council about the design cost,” Camareno said.

Construction costs for station No. 2 are included in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2010, which council and city staff are working on now and will finish in August.

“That is when we will actually get the funds,” said Debi Korinchock, support services director. “We are also applying for some federal funding for part of the cost of the second station.”

At Station No. 2, the men rub shoulders as they navigate three small rooms, one bathroom and dormitory-style sleeping quarters. Foil covers one broken door to keep the heat out, but wind and rain still intrude through visible cracks in the wall.

None of the city’s three female firefighters can be stationed there because of the single bathroom.

The men stationed there are stoic about the conditions, but Robinson said he was determined to get a new station for his employees.

Built in 1975, the tiny station on Loop 337 off Interstate 35 was intended to house “significantly fewer” firemen than it does now, Robinson said.

On top of that, construction of a truck stop next door has increased traffic and delayed response time to fire and EMS calls.

“We have a hard time getting out, even on actual emergencies,” said Lt. Miguel Troncoso, who has been at No. 2 for two years.

Robinson proposed a rebuilt station north of the present location on the southbound feeder road of Interstate 35, giving firefighters access to the interstate and San Antonio Street.

“It will be a larger station, what we call a ‘heavy’ house,” Robinson said. “It will have a fire engine and an ambulance just as the others do, but also an aerial apparatus (ladder truck.)”

It will have an extra bay, extra officer’s quarters and two additional dorm rooms.

The city currently has only one ladder truck, which is used in rescue operations involving multi-story buildings.

The ladder hose on the larger, specialized fire engines puts out 2,000 gallons per minute and is utilized at house fires to wet the surrounding area and provide containment, Robinson said.

Construction of another station, No. 4, is proposed at Oak Run Parkway on property donated by NBISD. The station will serve not only the neighborhoods on Texas 46 but Emergency Service District (EDS) 7.

An EDS is a rural area without an emergency services department; it often contracts with a nearby municipality for emergency services. EDS 7, which lies to the north of New Braunfels, signed an $827,000 a year contract with the city this past October.

Officials declined to predict a possible start date on construction of either station.

Robinson said the new stations were necessary to meet the demands of a rapidly growing population.

“Minutes are lives,” he said. “We are going to move station No. 2 to a location that is going to be much better for us in terms of response time. Station No. 4 is going to be in an area that provides challenges to us now because so much of the
growth has gone out that direction. We have to serve that growing community.”
By Theron Brittain, The New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung