The city is building a new fire station to better serve residents in the Northwest Bellevue, downtown and BelRed areas. Fire Station 10 will improve response times for fire and medical emergencies in those areas, where the growing number of high-rise structures include “vertical response time” to upper floors.
Fire Station 10 will be on the 1200 block of 112th Avenue Northeast. Engine 110, Aid 101 and Battalion 101 will be posted there. Proposed construction will take place in 2020-2021, with occupancy slated for 2022.
Why does Bellevue need a new fire station?
Downtown has been Bellevue's fastest growing residential neighborhood for more than a decade, with the population expected to nearly triple from 7,147 in 2010 to 19,000 in 2030. Bellevue’s employment base, with the highest concentration of workers downtown, is also projected to grow from 42,525 employees in 2010 to an estimated 70,300 by 2030. BelRed, northeast of downtown, is also growing, with transit-oriented development drawing people and businesses there.
The areas of downtown and BelRed represent 70 percent of the projected population growth for Bellevue.
From 2010 to 2015, emergency incidents downtown increased by 24 percent. Travel time (time the apparatus is on the road) of three minutes to high-rise and four minutes to non-high rise incidents is critical to saving lives. There are gaps in meeting the three-minute travel time to incidents in Northwest Bellevue, downtown, BelRed and Wilburton.
Where will Station 10 be located?
Fire Station 10 will be on the Northwest corner of 112th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 12th Street, north of McCormick Park.
This site includes up to nine parcels (zoned R-4) with six property owners. The site encompasses 2.82 acres. This project will not affect McCormick Park.
The City Council approved funds for the land acquisition for Fire Station 10 in the 2015-21 Capital Investment Program and has begun property acquisition for the site.
How was the location chosen?
In 2014 the Fire Department completed an extensive study (Fire Facilities Master Plan) to examine how to meet the city’s needs both today and into the future. Based on coverage gaps identified in the study, a geographic area was selected for the station.
An October 2016 community presentation provides details on how the area was selected. Criteria used to evaluate potential sites in that area included:
- Response time/coverage
- Site access
- Traffic impacts on Medic 1 freeway access
- Cost to acquire, develop and operate
- Site configuration
- Land use impacts
The Station 10 site was selected because it best met all six requirements.
Benefits beyond downtown and BelRed?
A systemwide support network of existing stations ensures every individual receives the same standard of excellence, no matter where they might live or work. Any current response into downtown can draw fire apparatus and crews from other fire stations, increasing response times to the neighborhoods where those stations are located,
Fire Station 10 will not only provide critical services for downtown, BelRed and the surrounding neighborhoods, it will also allow the other nine fire stations to better serve their neighborhoods by reducing the amount of time spent away from their primary response areas.
Reduced stress on the entire system allows for better service and, most important, better response times.