The idea came about through Ignacio “Nacho” Hernandez, who is a local mechanic. He is originally from Zacapu, and although Hernandez lives in Fontana, he frequently travels to Zacapu, where he serves as a volunteer fireman.

Hernandez asked his friend John Roberts, who is on the Fontana City Council and is the former fire chief, to assist in obtaining the donation of an old fire truck.

The facility was designed by BRW Architects, a firm that has designed several fire stations in the Harris and Fort Bend county areas. The station will be situated on land adjacent to the new Spring Green traffic roundabout that will connect the two existing segments of Spring Green Boulevard as well as Cinco Trace Drive and Katy Flewellen Road. The construction period is expected to last most of 2017. Assuming the weather cooperates, Station No. 3 should be placed into service by early 2018.

In this incident, another vehicle failed to yield to the responding fire truck. As apparatus operators, we cannot expect other vehicles to hear or see us. Make sure all cars on the road know your intentions as the driver of the apparatus.

The department retired a 1991 rig. The new truck cost approximately $900,000. The new truck responded to its first call shortly after the dedication ceremony, which was attended by 100.