JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville is growing. And with that comes the need for more fire protection. Right now, there's one growing neighborhood wondering where their new fire station is.
Back in 2010, two homes were gutted by fire in the Bartram Springs neighborhood, on the Duval/St. Johns County line.
It took Jacksonville Fire and Rescue almost 15 minutes to respond to each emergency, because there's no fire station in the area. The city has plans to build one. But two years after those fires, there's still no station.
"They said they didn't have enough funds for us to have one," said homeowner Star Eddy. "It was supposed to open in Bartram Parkway."
She says it's a hot topic in the neighborhood. The lack of protection makes neighbors nervous. "The main thing is if you needed medical attention, they wouldn't be able to come in time," said Eddy.
Randy Wyse, president of the firefighters union, says fast-growing neighborhoods near the county line like Bartram Springs, have long been a problem for firefighters.
"The closest station is around the Avenues Mall," he said. And he says he's a little surprised it's taken this long to build a fire station there, especially when he says the land for the fire station was donated to the city.
"Yeah, it's taken a long time. And during these budget constraints, people are very cautious about moving forward on a thing like that," he said.
So we went to the city to ask when homeowners can expect to see their new fire station. JFRD spokesman, Tom Francis, said fire station 62 is coming very soon. "Fire Station number 62 happens to be currently the only authorized endeavor within the CIP for the 2013 budget," he said.
That's good news for homeowners, who don't want to see another home go up in flames. "We have a lot of families here and we definitely need a fire station," said Eddy.
JFRD says, if all goes as planned, crews could break ground on the new station before the end of this calendar year.
