Rapid growth in both population and structures in the northeast part of Midland means an increased need for a fourth fire station, Midland Fire Chief Chris Coughlin said. Coughlin also told City Council members at their annual planning retreat Saturday that the department's call volume has mushroomed from 482 in 1976 to nearly 5,300 last year - and the department has one fewer employee than it had 40 years ago.
In addition, increased traffic has contributed to reduced response times. The National Fire Protection Association sets a standard of four minutes or less, and 90 percent of Midland Fire Department calls met that standard when the last major study was done in 2007.
Today, the department response time is in the six- to 12-minute range, the chief said.
The 2007 study offered three options, and Coughlin said his recommendation is the option to build a new, fourth fire station in the northeast quadrant of the city and to relocate Fire Station No. 1, which would bring 89 percent of the coverage area within the four-minute response time range.
He envisions the new station would be in the "Waldo corridor." The cost of this option is estimated at $8 million to $10 million for the new station and relocation of Station No. 1, plus the cost of the land and the ongoing cost of operations.
While he believes the fundamentals of the 2007 study remain valid, Coughlin noted that its options "were formulated prior to the growth explosion north of U.S. 10." He pointed out that a study done in the late 1990s also found a need for a new, fourth station in Midland's northeast quadrant.
A new station would have five bays and would include administrative office space and a training center. He noted that the Midland Fire Department has already become something of a magnet for training as budget-strapped departments in Saginaw and Bay City have eliminated such offerings for firefighters from other departments.
The fire chief recommended that, "at a minimum," the city should be scouting out possible sites for a new station.