TEXAS — More fire stations are popping up in parts of the state that once did not need as many.
The latest is over in Bulverde, just north of San Antonio.
The new fire station, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, will help speed up response times.
Jonathan Dixon, division chief of operations with Bulverde Spring Branch Fire Department, says that their goal is to get to folks who need them quickly.
“We have a total of 216, depending on where you draw the lines, might be 217 square miles,” said Dixon.
The area Dixon and his team cover is quickly changing.
“Bulverde-Spring Branch is a mix of everything,” said Dixon.
Bulverde and Spring Branch have in more recent years become more suburban. There’s a commercial district now mixed with people who have large ranches.
“So it’s a very diverse community, and it’s becoming that it has a lot of needs. What worked for us 10 years ago is not going to work for us now or tomorrow,” said Dixon.
That adds to the need for more resources to keep call response times in check.
“We average about 16 calls a day, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but when they’re spread out, sometimes it takes us 15 minutes. Our goal is to always be there within 10 minutes or less, but given some of the far ends of the neighborhood, the long windy roads, there are some places that just take us longer to get to,” said Dixon.
That’s why their new fire station, expected to be complete by the end of 2026, couldn’t come at a better time.
“We’ve always had a small station out there that’s had an ambulance and a brush truck, and we’ve had three personnel out there. We’re going to be opening up a brand new station that will have bays, that will have a fire engine, a tender, water shuttles. It will still have an ambulance, and then we’ll have a brush truck out there as well. So it will be a fully capable, fully functional fire station,” said Dixon.
Clay Avery is with the Texas State Association of Fire and Emergency Districts. It’s a statewide group dedicated to improving fire protection in the Lone Star State.
He said Bulverde isn’t the only place exploding with growth and reevaluating the need.
“The major population centers are expanding in a way that I’m not sure anybody completely was anticipating. Even with the best anticipation, you’re still going to have to execute strategies for keeping up with that growth,” said Avery.
That means Dixon and the rest of the firefighters will have to keep up with the constant changes.
“We’re getting new roads that don’t have names, and then we have old dirt roads that we never knew existed that we find on the way to a call,” said Dixon.
All to get to the community quicker.
“Because when people pick up the phone and call 911, they don’t want to know that we’re coming in 20 minutes. They want us there as soon as possible,” said Dixon.