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, Medic 101 and Battalion 101 will be posted there. Proposed construction will take place in 2020-2021, with occupancy slated for 2022.
Permitting and design in progress
The Development Services Department held a virtual conditional use permit public meeting on Aug. 6, 2020. Comments are still being accepted and can be emailed to project planner Reilly Pittman, rpittman@bellevuewa.gov.
June 22-July 6 Virtual Design Open House
The City of Bellevue held the Fire Station 10 Design Open House in late June/early July to solicit input on the new fire station. Participants gave feedback on the station's conceptual design and other concerns they might have regarding the project.
Jan. 23, 2020 Open House
Community members attended an open house at City Hall on Jan. 23, where visual displays were available, as well as a chance to speak with staff and consultants. Fire Chief Jay Hagen gave a presentation, which was followed by a "question-and-answer" session with subject matter experts. Members of the community had great questions and feedback. For more information, please email FireStation10@bellevuewa.gov or contact project manager Marina Stefanovic, 425-452-4486.
Open house materials:
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.
Location
Fire Station 10 will be on the northwest corner of 112th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 12th Street, north of McCormick Park. The City Council approved funds for the land acquisition for Fire Station 10 in the 2015-21 Capital Investment Program and has completed property acquisition for the site.
A geographic area was selected for Fire Station 10 after based on coverage gaps identified in the Fire Facilities Master Plan. The 112th Avenue site was selected because it best met the following criteria used to evaluate potential sites in that area.
- Response time/coverage
- Site access
- Traffic impacts on Medic 1 freeway access
- Cost to acquire, develop and operate
- Site configuration
- Land use impacts
Benefits Beyond Downtown and BelRed
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.