By Carlos Illescas
The Denver Post
Copyright 2006 The Denver Post
All Rights Reserved
AURORA, Colo. — A fire station that has been closed since it was built several years ago finally will open for business this month - with two paramedics and no fire engine.
Instead, the two-man squad will operate what is called a brush truck, which will have equipment similar to emergency rescue units but “very, very, very limited” firefighting capabilities, Aurora Fire Chief Casey Jones said.
It will be able to put out a small trash or car fire, but that’s about it, Jones said.
“It’s a positive first step, but I consider it only that, a first step,” Jones said. “We are monitoring that station and all the activity out there closely, and as soon as the growth demands it, we will request to update that to a full station.”
That Fire Station No. 14, at 22298 S. Aurora Parkway near E-470 and Gartrell Road, is opening at all is welcome news to city officials and area residents, three years after the $2 million station was finished.
The city had planned to open the station on time.
At that time, the Heritage Eagle Bend development was underway and two other major subdivisions were planned. But those two never really materialized as expected, so the demand to open the station wasn’t as great. And, in the meantime, the city, like others that suffered as the economy plummeted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was forced to make budget cuts.
So the station had no personnel.
For the past two years or so, it has been used as a warehouse and renamed the Aurora Quartermaster Facility. But come Oct. 21, it will officially be Fire Station No. 14 again. The city can afford the $537,000 to staff it this coming year and plans two people in three shifts 24 hours a day.
One reason Aurora is staffing it now only with medical personnel is that the population the station will serve is older. Heritage Eagle Bend residents are required to be at least 55 years old.
“They’re far more likely to have medical calls than fire calls,” said City Councilman Bob Broom, who represents that part of the city and fought hard to get the station staffed. “Really, it’s all the city could afford at this time. It’ll be fully staffed in a couple of years when there’s enough growth out there, hopefully.”
Typically, fire stations have at least four firefighters for each firetruck in operation, Jones said. And ideally, there would be at least one truck at No. 14 capable of fighting fires, he said. The paramedics assigned to the new station are trained firefighters and will be able to provide assistance once a firetruck arrives at a scene.
Heritage Eagle Bend residents such as Dick Irvine are pleased to hear the station will open soon. But Irvine worries about what would happen should one of the homes catch fire and the closest responders have nothing more than a brush truck.
“Look at the number of homes here,” Irvine said as he raked leaves at his Quemoy Way home on a recent afternoon. “If we happen to have a fire this close to the station and don’t have a pumper, that could be a problem.”
There is a fire station with a firetruck in the Tallyn’s Reach neighborhood 2 miles away.
But if that truck is out on a call in the growing neighborhood there, Irvine wondered what would happen: “How far is the next fire station?”