By Stephanie Sandoval
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2007 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DALLAS — The impending arrival of passenger rail service is creating challenges for Carrollton fire and emergency medical service officials.
While the trains won’t pull in to the city until late 2010, fire officials say it’s not too early to be planning for the changes that the rail service, and anticipated development in the station areas, will require in equipment, staffing and operations.
“We are going to have a different style and character of development,” Assistant City Manager Marc Guy said. “We are going to have to make sure we have the types of apparatus and training to respond to incidents in those areas.”
Some of the trains will be elevated, meaning firefighters and paramedics responding to emergencies on the rail line will have to figure out the best way to access the trains in case of emergency.
If the rail attracts the high-density development that’s projected for the station areas, particularly around the two northern rail stations, the city may need to build an eighth fire station and relocate an existing one.
And some of that development is expected to include several high-rise buildings. With the highest building in the city standing at four stories, high-rise fire suppression and rescue efforts are unfamiliar to Carrollton firefighters and first responders.
Fire Chief John Murphy said the department will have to work with developers to set up areas to store firefighting equipment inside buildings, rather than hauling the apparatus up flights of stairs.
High-rise development also could require the city to buy several new ladder trucks. The city currently has only one.
A surge in development could also lead the city to acquire more ambulances, most likely adding a fourth in the next five years, and perhaps a fifth before 2015.
“It’s going to depend upon the transit-oriented development that takes place and the density that takes place in that area,” Chief Murphy said.
But the city is planning now.
“We can’t wait and see,” he said. “We have to anticipate.”
Chief Murphy laid out his strategy for the City Council on Tuesday.
City officials say no firm decisions have been made regarding fire station changes, purchasing trucks or adding EMS personnel, and how much that would cost hasn’t been determined. But industry officials say a new fire station costs about $1 million a year to operate.
The strategic plan is a five-year outlook.