Based upon call volume, response times and industry standards, the Missoula Fire Department has proposed placing a new fire station in the mid-Reserve Street area on the western edge of the city.
While placing the new station out in the Sxwtpqyen area remains an option, it doesn't relieve the immediate challenges faced by the department when multiple calls are in play.
“We are struggling to meet our national standards and response times north of the river and in the heart of the city — Midtown,” said Fire Chief Gordy Hughes. “We need to find some land with respect to Station 6 and start the development of that facility.”
The fire department's response area covers around 35 square miles. Within that, 11 square miles lie within the targeted 4-minute response time, or roughly 31% of the city. It leaves roughly 46% of the city's address points outside that 4-minute window.
While the drainages represent a portion of that “uncovered” area, the bulk of the lapse currently lies within the mid-Reserve Street corridor, or Franklin to the Fort and portions of Midtown. It's there where the department is lobbying to place Station 6.
Hughes said it would free up more than 2,000 calls for service that Station 4 would currently respond to. The fire levy passed by voters would fund construction of the new station.
“We're coming from further and further away every year,” said Hughes. “We've been reactionary. This levy takes relief off of those other stations.”
Placing Station 6 in the mid-Reserve Street corridor would increase the areas covered by a 4-minute response time to 37%. It would also place 71% of the city's address points within the 4-minute window.
“Those address points in the Franklin to the Fort area are now covered. We also pick up address points north of the river as well,” Hughes said. “It spreads the workload across four stations instead of the three stations we currently have.”
The second proposal places Station 6 out by George Elmer Drive in the West Broadway corridor. That would place 37% of the service area within 4 minutes but would only increase the number of address points within that window to 59%.
Hughes said it also fails to address the needs in the mid-Reserve Street corridor.
“By plugging holes with projections in mind and not empirical data, this is the model that would serve that," Hughes said. "It hits those address points in the industrial park, but it still leaves a giant triangle in the heart of the city unprotected.”
While the proposals are driven by data and not so much on projections, some members of City Council expressed concern, suggesting that projections should play a larger role, particularly when related to growth in the Sxwtpqyen area.
Council member Mirtha Becerra said that could leave the city “a step behind,” as it currently is, if it doesn't project for future growth.
“This is based on current calls. We are going to reach the forecast population increase in the western side of town before we have the political will of Missoula residents to pay once again to catch up. I don't think we're going to be looking at another levy to build another station anytime soon.”
While the area is growing, it's not growing at the rate anticipated by the Sxwtpqyen Master Plan, according to city CAO Dale Bickell. He said placing Station 6 in the mid-Reserve Street area meets the greatest number of current needs.
“It's hard to project the future, and while it has been growing rapidly out there (Sxwtpqyen), it's not developing at the density that's allowed in the plan,” Bickell said. “This (proposal) maximizes the taxpayer investment today to get the maximum calls for the most city residents. That benefits the entire city.”
While the station's future location remains uncertain, Hughes said the city will eventually have to address other issues, including coverage of the Sxwtpqyen and airport districts, as well as East Missoula, where residents failed to pass a fire levy.
As a result, the fate of East Missoula's existing station is now uncertain, Hughes said. Residents of East Missoula area are also suing the city over the approval of a new subdivision and have resisted annexation for years, even while being served by city services.
East Missoula could be without fire service if the issues aren't addressed.
“City taxpayers pay for the Missoula Fire Department,” said council member Mike Nugent. “It's important for us to know if city taxpayers are covering responses in East Missoula for people who aren't paying city taxes. I'm not saying we shouldn't be doing it — we certainly should. But there are costs to those things.”
