PUBLIC SAFETY Fire department needs slated for upgrades in TheWoodlands
FIRE DEPARTMENT TARGETS NEEDS The Woodlands Fire Department is planning to build a replacement for a structurally compromised re station, and it is seeking a grant to add re ghters to address response challenges on the west side of the township.
West of Gosling Road East of Gosling Road
A Fire Station No. 5 current location
Potential future site for Fire Station No. 5
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Facility needs Plans to address facility needs were last discussed in August, but the township and department decided to wait until after the November incor- poration election to move forward, according to Buck. In the meantime, measures are being taken to ensure safe operation at Fire Station No. 5 until a new station can be built, Buck said. The site identi ed for a new sta- tion is next to the Sterling Ridge Park and Ride on Ashlane Way, a property for which The Howard Hughes Corp. has rst right of refusal, o cials said. This means that any project slated for the site before 2023 would be subject to the company’s refusal. However, Howard Hughes has indicated it supports the project. A timeline for the land transfer was not immediately available from Howard Hughes or the township as of late February. Managing growth Although resident needs in the township have grown, with more than 13,000 calls to The Woodlands Fire Department in 2021 compared to 9,700 in 2020 and 11,300 in 2019, Buck said buildout in The Woodlands means that future increases will not signi cantly add to the demand. “It increases every year as The Woodlands continues to grow, but at some point we’ll plateau,” he said in a phone interview. The addition of a 10th company should address the current and
BY VANESSA HOLT
The Woodlands Fire Department hopes to add another company of re ghters and to rebuild a com- promised station as part of a slate of improvement projects it is considering this year, Fire Chief Palmer Buck said. According to a Feb. 24 email from Buck, the township is working with The Howard Hughes Corp. on several land issues, including the site identi ed by the township for Fire Station No. 5, which serves western portions of The Woodlands including Carlton Woods, Indian Springs and Sterling Ridge. The station will need to be rebuilt at another location because of underlying soil issues that o cials said will damage the integrity of the building over time, Buck said. The station was constructed in 2003, and it is operating until a replacement can be built, o cials said. At the same time, western portions of The Woodlands which are still seeing growth will bene t from the addition of a 10th township com- pany that would operate out of that station, Buck said. “We’ve seen a pretty big disparity with our ability to get an e ective re ghting force in the recom- mended time,” Buck said. As of 2021, a company of 14 re ghters—what is considered an e ective re ghting force—can be on the scene within eight minutes 72% of the time on the east side of The Woodlands, but the west side is only able to do so 31% of the time, he said.
2978
COLLEGE PARK DR.
TERRAMONT DR.
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W. BRANCH CROSSING DR.
ASHLANE WAY
Soil issues under Fire Station No. 5 will necessitate the construction of a new station on an alternate site.
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LOCAL RESPONSE National Fire Protection Agency standards set an expectation for an e ective re ghting force to be on the scene within 8 minutes. West of Gosling Road, TWFD companies are less able to meet that goal.
Response time goal met in 2021:
West of Gosling Road 31% of the time
72% of the time East of Gosling Road
SOURCE: THE WOODLANDS FIRE DEPARTMENT COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
SCOPE OF SERVICE
expected immediate future demand, he said. The township is hoping a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be awarded this year through its Sta ng for Ade- quate Fire and Emergency Response program. A response could be learned as soon as June, Buck said. With township o cials engaged in strategic planning sessions through- out the year, Buck said projects to meet the department’s other needs are also expected to move forward in 2022, including a re truck purchase. The purchase approved in 2021 was
Number of residents: 110,000 Number of stations: 8 Number of re ghters: 147 1 2021 call volume: 13,316 *The score from 1-10 re ects re preparedness, with 1 being the highest rating. Insurance Services O ce* rating:
$925,000, and a second truck is slated in the scal year 2022 budget. The trucks take two years to con- struct, and they will be delivered at the time they are needed, Buck said.
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THE WOODLANDS EDITION • MARCH 2022
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