Hot Springs Fire Department in need of sixth fire station near mall

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (KATV) — The Hot Springs Fire Department is seeing greater demand of services in the southern area of town, prompting a need for an additional fire station.

While fire-related calls aren't as common these days, Hot Springs firefighters are still keeping busy with medical calls serving as the bulk of emergencies.

"We're trying to meet the tenets of NFPA 1710. That sets up a response time of approximately 480 seconds for 90 percent of the incidents in those areas and we're beginning to have a problem of meeting those response times criteria in the areas around Hot Springs Mall," said Hot Springs Fire Chief Ed Davis.

Davis is working on forming a 10-year investment plan for constructing a sixth fire station in the southern area of Hot Springs.

There's also a need for new fire engines, which are ideally replaced every 20 years.

Increased response times and the prospect of another substation equals potential concern from taxpayers.

Davis stressed the financial benefits to Hot Springs homeowners.

"One of the things that we always strive to do is reduce the ISO rating in the city of Hot Springs. That puts money back into the taxpayers' pockets," Davis said.

ISO, which stands for Insurance Services Office, is an assigned score that determines how well-equipped a fire station is to protect the community.

The lower the number, the less someone is paying for homeowners insurance.

Hot Springs ISO rating is currently two.

"The construction of this fire station in the southern part of the city will put the city at a class 1 ISO rating. It'll also provide more direct services to those neighborhoods," Davis said. So it just means you'll have more manpower, more apparatus, more equipment that can respond to anywhere in the city should there be a large scale emergency."

The Hot Springs Fire Department's 10-year capital plan will go before the city board at the end of October.

The board will then decide how each project and piece of equipment is to be funded.