Cities partner to build new fire station
Saturday’s ground breaking for the new Cedar Hill fire station on Lake Ridge Parkway is the result of two cities, Grand Prairie and Cedar Hill, working together to provide superior fire and EMS service for their citizens while saving tax money.
The cities entered into an agreement to share the cost of the new fire station and equipment. Cedar Hill will staff the station with Grand Prairie assuming twenty-five percent of the personnel costs.
After the station is built and staffed, the Cedar Hill Fire Department will respond to all fire and EMS calls in the area south of Lake Joe Pool, both Cedar Hill and Grand Prairie.
Grand Prairie Fire Chief Clif Nelson said this area is an intermingling of Cedar Hill and Grand Prairie, with Grand Prairie occupying approximately twenty percent. He said currently the Grand Prairie Fire Department’s response time to the area is between fifteen and seventeen minutes which is too long. With the new fire station, both the Cedar Hill area and the Grand Prairie portion will receive the level of fire and EMS protection they expect and need, Chief Nelson said.
Chief Nelson said the agreement with Cedar Hill is for a ten year period and it will be constantly evaluated to see if it should be continued past this period.
