A new fire station planned for Bristol, Tennessee may soon cut response times in half for a community that has recently welcomed a boom in business.
Bristol, Tennessee leaders approved next year’s 99 million dollar budget Tuesday night, allowing construction to begin on a new sub station near the Pinnacle shopping complex and Bristol Regional Medical Center.
The plan is to build a station on vacant land near National College.
Bristol, Tennessee Fire Chief Bob Barnes said they are one of the only stations in the state of Tennessee that runs fire and EMS calls. Right now it would take them about 8 minutes to respond to the Pinnacle complex area. The closest station is located on 17th street.
Barnes hopes with the construction of a new fire station, they can cut response times down anywhere from to two to five minutes.
Dr. Mark Woodard at Bristol Regional Medical Center works with Bristol paramedics daily, and said they are seeing more accidents that occur close to the hospital due to the boom in business and development. He said the new fire station would be a great asset to the hospital.