St. Cloud Fire Department Makes Final Push for New Station Approval Ahead of Election

(KNSI) – With the election a week away, the St. Cloud Fire Department is making a final push for voters to approve a new station.

Residents are being asked to give a thumbs up to the proposed $43.5 million station in the southwest part of town. The complex would also have a training facility, additional office space, and maintenance bays. It would cost the average homeowner of a $234,900 house about $9 a month over the next 20 years.

Jake Judd/KNSI News

Fire Chief Matt Love met with KNSI News at the proposed site and expressed a major concern with the department’s response time in the area. “We’re looking around, and we’re surrounded by three or four schools with thousands of kids in them, and we’re the furthest away from any fire station.” He says it could take up to 12 minutes to get a fire truck to Tech High School, Stride Academy or Athlos Academy.

According to data, St. Cloud has seen a 32% increase in emergency calls in the last four years and is on pace to log more than 10,000 calls this year. The growth is leading to longer response times throughout the city. Chief Love says the department aims to follow the national standard of getting a truck to a scene within four minutes.

In September, the mayor held a town hall meeting at the site and parked a fire truck so everyone could find it. The chief says the truck provided the perfect example of why a station is needed there. “A few minutes into the town hall meeting, an emergency happened in this area. And so, the truck left, of course, to go to that. The truck got there in about a minute and a half. Had there not been a truck sitting where fire station six would be, it would have been coming from station five, almost ten minutes away, and it was a four-month-old not breathing call.”

One question people have asked him is, will station six serve Waite Park? The answer is no. The station would be the closest, but it’s far from the populated area of Waite Park. That city is served by station two and pays St. Cloud for providing coverage.

For those not voting early or absentee, Election Day is November 5th.

Get more information on the project by clicking here.

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