ENCINITAS – With Fire Station No. 2 having already been in operation since Jan. 7, Deputy Chief of Operations Darrin Ward said they’ve already seen the benefits of the new location.
“Moving it right here, we’re much quicker,” he said. “Already we’re seeing a drop in response times.”
Having moved from its previous cramped quarters on McKinnon Avenue, the new location at 618 Birmingham Drive allows the crews faster access to emergency situations by being nearer to the Interstate 5 access ramps. The new location and space (the station is 6,330 square feet) also allows for the housing of an ambulance, which can respond to calls from Solana Beach to Del Mar, Encinitas and other North County coastal communities.
At the old station, they didn’t have an ambulance on site for many years, Ward said. “It was too small.”
In addition to housing an ambulance and a crew of two EMTs, the new station is home to a fire engine with a crew of three fire firefighters. The station has the ability to house three additional firefighters when needed.
City Council approved the station’s construction in 2011 at a cost of $4.6 million. It also meets the LEED standards for Silver Certification.
1 comment
Wow. Construction of $4.6 million. Add on all the design, administrative time, permitting, etc. and the station relocation and remodel totaled more than $6 million not including the land which the City owned. All for 3 resting fire fighters to hang out and garage a fire truck while they wait for a call, when they are not shopping or watching a movie.
I can garantee that I could build a nice station for no more than $2 million total. Again, the City is focussed on trophies and not your tax dollars.
What I have noticed is the road conditions in Encinitas now resemble San Diego’s road. Terrible.
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