QC getting fire station

Quail Creek residents will no longer have to worry about trains blocking emergency crews from getting to their community.

Just days after the foundation was poured on the newest station in the Green Valley Fire District, Station 151 on La Canada Drive, the district received approval to start construction on Station 155 near Quail Creek.

The 11,000-square-foot station will sit on the east side of the railroad tracks, just south of Quail Creek Crossing Road on Campbell Avenue, a new road that runs from Quail Creek to Madera Highlands.

The district’s governing board on Wednesday approved a $3,029,954 maximum-price bid from Lang-Wyatt Construction and WSM Architects of Tucson, who are also building Station 151. Station 155 will break ground in the next three weeks, and should be completed by May, Chief Simon Davis said.

Though the district had been considering putting a station in that area since 1989, when it was annexed into the district, plans started getting under way in 2006 when home building in Quail Creek “really started to take off,” Davis said.

Currently, Quail Creek has about 1,800 homes, but is planned to be built-out at about 4,500 homes. Madera Highlands has about 500 homes and will have about 2,000, he said.

With the rapid growth in the area, faster response times have become critical.

The average response time to the two communities off Nogales Highway is 9 minutes — just missing the district’s goal of reaching every call in Green Valley in under 8 minutes, Davis said. But along with the threat of trains blocking access to the residents, the distance from the current closest station on Abrego Drive and Continental Road is too great to realistically achieve the district’s goal.

Like 151, the station will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, with a Silver-level certification. It will be energy- and water-efficient, with an emphasis on creating a safe living environment for firefighters. The station will house one engine, one ambulance, a water truck, and possibly a hazardous materials truck, Davis said.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726