Groundbreaking held for new north side fire station

(COLORADO SPRINGS)– Providing better emergency services in the growing area of northern Colorado Springs–that’s what the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) hopes to do
with a new fire station that broke ground off Interquest Parkway on Wednesday, May 15.

The closest fire stations in the area are currently Station 22 near Northgate and Station 19 in Briargate, which are more than six miles away. The addition of Station 24 will put the stations about three miles apart instead.

“When it comes to public safety, we have our police and fire department, and it’s upon me. It’s my job and it’s upon local government to make sure that we are delivering for our residents so that when they call 911, we are there at the best time possible,” said Mayor Yemi Mobolade.

The north end of Colorado Springs is growing faster than most realize, so much so that the city and CSFD knew changes needed to happen.

“There is this vacuum between Stations 19 and Station 22, and that’s station 24. This station allows us to ensure that we’re able to respond in a timely fashion when someone calls 911,” said Mayor Mobolade.

CSFD began plans for the new station back in 2021 when construction increased in the area. As the density in the area increased, so did emergency response calls.

“We are trying to build all of our stations within a three-mile or so radius. And so our goal is to get to every call in eight minutes or less,” said Chief Randy Royal with CSFD.

The new station will also have wildland trucks that help firefighters battle wildfires.

“Those are designed to go off-road for quick attack and can carry their water off-road. We know that we have both a wildfire threat along the west side of our city and on our east side, we have what we call the PUI, the Prairie Urban Interface, where we have lots of grass in this area so now we can better handle it,” said Chief Royal.

CSFD said the department hoped to open station 24 in November of 2023, but the groundbreaking got pushed back to May because of rising construction costs.

“The costs almost doubled in the time that we had to build the station–partly supply chain, partly getting the land signed over,” said Chief Royal.

CSFD said the new station will cost around $10.5 million, with new engines costing more than $1.5 million per truck. The new station is set to open in March of 2025.

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