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Denton builds new fire station to keep pace with growth – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Denton builds new fire station to keep pace with growth – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

It’s no secret that Denton County is thriving.

A recent U.S. Census report on the 15 fastest growing cities in the country found that North Texas has five fast-growing cities.

Denton and the surrounding area are on the list, meaning county and municipal agencies must make plans to keep up with the growth.

On Friday, a symbol of that new growth will be officially celebrated: the brand new Denton Fire Department Station 9.

“It’s a dream come true for us. This is something we’ve been talking about for almost 10 years since we started fighting aircraft fires,” said David Boots, public information officer for the Denton Fire Department.

The grand opening is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, with city and county officials getting an up-close look at the state-of-the-art building and its new 3,000-gallon fire truck.

The key word for Station 9 is “airplane” because its location is strategic. It’s on the west side of I-35 in Denton, right next to Denton Enterprise Airport.

Believe it or not, the airport is the 60th busiest airport in the entire country.

Although no commercial airlines operate there, the airport has daily business jets, charters, cargo planes and two flight schools.

“It’s a very, very busy general aviation airport,” Boots said. “So, just in this area for Station 9, we have a huge manufacturing area. We have millions of square feet of warehouse space. We have distribution centers for Peter Built Trucks, TetraPak, Target, WinCo, Aldi, and many more.”

To be able to carry out all these new activities, they need to have good coverage for fighting aircraft fires. This includes the specialized yellow fire trucks that you see at many airports, which are designed to deal with aircraft emergencies.

The newest ARF unit, known as “Bigfoot,” weighs 93,000 pounds and is the successor to another unit stationed at the airport.

Before Station 9, the nearest fire station was 5 minutes away, near the University of North Texas. If there was an aircraft emergency at Denton Airport, crews would have to drive that distance to the one ARF vehicle on scene, then spend another crucial minute gathering their gear to respond.

Now that the new facility is located right next to the Denton airport terminal, response time is just over a minute.

“We are planning for future growth and need to be able to handle all the aircraft flying in and out of this airport,” Boots said.

Station 9 will also handle all the newcomers moving to the western side of Denton County. About 25,000 new homes are being built in this area.

Boots said Denton Fire plans to build four additional fire stations in the region over the next decade to meet all needs.

“All the growth that’s happened in Collin County over the last few decades is now in Denton County,” he said. “There’s a big movement coming out of the Fort Worth area. There’s a movement coming out of Collin County and it’s converging in Denton. And with our location right here on I-35, it’s very, very popular for growth.”

Another feature of Station 9 is a state-of-the-art decontamination bathroom and infrared sauna, designed to help firefighters reduce their exposure to toxins and lower their risk of cancer.

The Denton Fire Department plans to implement the technology in two other older stations and modernize them next year.

The festive opening of Station 9 also coincides with the 150e anniversary of the Denton Fire Department, one of the oldest in the state, dating back to 1874.