With virtually no fanfare to mark the occasion, Ahwatukee\u2019s fourth fire station opened in March.<\/p>\n
With a breathtaking view of mountains and the Preserve, the new station sits on 7.75 acres on W. Chandler Boulevard near 19th Avenue.<\/p>\n
Though city fire officials had told a city council subcommittee last fall the station would be opened by the end of 2025, some issues involving the contractor\u2019s ability to finish the job by then emerged, according to city Councilman Kevin Robinson.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhoenix Fire Station 74 officially opened and went into service on Monday, March 16,\u201d Fire Department spokesman Capt. DJ Lee told AFN last week.<\/p>\n
The quiet opening of the station is surprising, given that it was widely touted when plans were first announced in February 2023 by Mayor Kate Gallego and then-Councilman Sal DiCiccio.<\/p>\n
And Gallego led a line of city officials at a big groundbreaking ceremony for the facility in October 2024 who hailed the station.<\/p>\n
Noting the Preserve scenery surrounding the station, the mayor told the group of about 100 people, \u201cIt might just be the prettiest fire station in Phoenix.\u201d<\/p>\n
In what was one of DiCiccio\u2019s final major achievements before his term ended, he and Gallego had cut a deal with then-City Manager Jeff Barton not only to fund the station but also start an academy class so that it would be fully manned once it opened.<\/p>\n
As Gallego, Robinson, Fire Chief Mike Duran III, U.S. Rep Greg Stanton and other speakers noted at the groundbreaking, Ahwatukee\u2019s fourth fire station will not only improve emergency response times for the up-and-coming Upper Canyon development with its 1,100 homes but also for residents in Club. West, Foothills Reserve and Ahwatukee Promontory at Foothills West.<\/p>\n
It will also beef up the city\u2019s overall network of 58 fire stations as one of six new facilities that will be built over the next six years, including several funded by the $500 million General Obligation bond issue voters overwhelmingly approved last year.<\/p>\n
The 13,000-square-foot facility houses a fire engine, medical rescue and 23 firefighters who already are completing Fire Academy training.<\/p>\n
It also will provide a landing pad for a rescue helicopter, which Gallego said will be helpful in mountain rescues.<\/p>\n
And it will be a big help to the department\u2019s efforts to reduce emergency response times to meet those recommended by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The association develops roughly 300 codes and standards that serve as the foundation for fire, electrical, and life safety across the globe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a briefing Nov. 5 before the City Council Subcommittee on Public Safety and Justice, Executive Fire Chief Tim Kreis and\u00a0 Deputy Chief Reda Riddle-Bigler gave an overview of the new station\u2019s place in the city\u2019s ongoing efforts to improve response time throughout Phoenix.<\/p>\n
Kreis reminded the panel that with steady population growth over the last 10 years, Phoenix Fire \u201cdid not see a corresponding increase in capacity to match that population growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, emergency response times for both fires and medical emergencies several years ago were almost twice the recommended national standard.<\/p>\n
Kreis said response times are now within the 90th percentile of those recommended by the NFPA.<\/p>\n
City officials in the last two years put a major emphasis on expanding its firefighting and ambulance infrastructure while stepping up efforts to fill vacancies.<\/p>\n
A city memo to the panel stated, \u201cResponse times have stabilized in recent years due to the positive impact of adding emergency service resources to the system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis overall trend demonstrates that the city\u2019s strategic investments in emergency services personnel, equipment, and infrastructure, including the construction of new fire stations, expansion of ambulance services, and technology upgrades, are positively impacting response times amid the city\u2019s growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gallego at the groundbreaking also had noted that the new fire station will make Ahwatukee one of the best protected villages in Phoenix where emergency response times are concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will have some of the best response times in the Valley,\u201d Gallego said. \u201cIt is also a strategic placement. It will help us make sure our mountains are safer. Mountain rescues are a part of service at the City of Phoenix, and we\u2019ll be able to do it more effectively.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With virtually no fanfare to mark the occasion, Ahwatukee\u2019s fourth fire station opened in March. With a breathtaking…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":731597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[302643,5229,5643,1587,302644,302642,153913,302646,1589,183808,302647,302645,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-731596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-ahwatukee-fire-stations","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-arizona","11":"tag-az","12":"tag-capt-dj-lee","13":"tag-kevin-robinson","14":"tag-mayor-kate-gallego","15":"tag-mike-duran-iii","16":"tag-phoenix","17":"tag-reda-riddle-bigler","18":"tag-rep-greg-stanton","19":"tag-sal-diciccio","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116413201891758886","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/731597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}