The new Fire Station #2 for the Fountain Hills Rural/Metro Fire Department is rapidly coming out of the ground and is on track for a fall move-in date, according to Fire Chief Dave Ott.

Equipment bay walls are up along with the roof trusses on that part of the structure. Wood framing is shaping the public access building and firefighter dormitory.

Ott said work is progressing according to schedule and the new facility should be ready to occupy by the end of October.

The council considered and approved the relocation of the station from the current site on Saguaro Boulevard south of Shea Boulevard to allow for improvements in operational efficiency including response time.

The important advantages of the new location include better overall response times and balancing out the call load between stations, according to Ott.

The town’s contract with Rural/Metro calls for a five-minute response time 90 percent of the time. The department cannot meet that requirement in the southwest areas of town.

“I think we will have a quicker response to the entire south end of town,” Ott said.

An ambulance crew now housed at the shopping center where Fry’s grocery store is located will be relocated to a home base at the new station.

There will also be space dedicated to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in the new building.

The facility is designed at 9,600 square feet with three truck bays and personal space for six firefighters.

Fire Station #2 opened at its current location on Saguaro Boulevard south of Shea Boulevard in 1993. At the time the Fountain Hills Fire District was under contract to serve the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, and growth in the western parts of Fountain Hills was just beginning. Also at that time Rural/Metro was still operating in Scottsdale, which provided for smoother operations and coordination across community boundaries. Fountain Hills continues to have a mutual aid agreement with the Scottsdale Fire Department.