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Bella Vista May Get A New Fire Station

Bella Vista Mayor Frank Anderson said a fourth fire station is needed to improve response time in one of the city’s fastest growing areas. This city is in...

Bella Vista Mayor Frank Anderson said a fourth fire station is needed to improve response time in one of the city's fastest growing areas.

This city is in the process of purchasing 4.3 acres of land from a local church off of Highway 279 near Buckston Drive.

City Council is expected to briefly discuss the lot split in this purchase Monday (May 19) and approve it during the next meeting.

 The city has a contract to buy the property but hasn't closed on it, according to Anderson.

Bella Vista has three fire stations. Anderson said they need a fourth one in the west-central part of town because there has been growth in that area.

'We're making way more than 70 percent of our calls out of the center station so we're wearing this station to death," Anderson said. "We need to split that load a little bit."

If a fourth fire station is built, the goal is to have between 9 to 12 firefighters to cover every shift, Anderson said.

Currently, Fire Station 3 is on the west side of Bella Vista and has two firefighters.

'If they have an EMS call, then the whole west side of Bella Vista is without fire coverage other than from the center station, which obviously takes us longer to get there for either EMS or fire calls," Anderson said. "That's another thing this station in the west-central part of the city will do."

The plot of land costs about $235,000. Anderson said he expects the sale to be final in the next 30 days. 

Construction is estimated at $800,000. If approved, the city hopes to have the new fire station open sometime in 2015.

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