SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KNWA) — The Springdale Fire Department will debut its newest fire station on Thursday (July 11).

Station 7 is the first of three new stations in the city.

Funding for the stations came from the 2018 bond issue in which voters agreed to extend a one-cent sales tax for 10 years.

The tax is going to generate more than $200 million, with about $16 million going to the fire department.

Springdale Fire Chief, Mike Irwin said the new station was needed for continued growth in the city.

He also said it will also help with response time, something that residents said they value.

“To meet those goals, we constantly have to look at trying to improve either our access or our station locations so we can meet what their expectations are,” Chief Irwin said.

Chief Irwin said the new facility aims to improve firefighter health by separating areas into zones. The goal is to keep toxic materials in designated places, which isn’t the case for some of the older stations

There are also plans for a new training center.

“Fires are down in the United States across the country,” Chief Irwin said. “To keep proficient at our skills, we have to actually mimic having a fire. So we do that at our training facilities to give hands-on experience to all of our personnel.”

Chief Irwin said the training center will happen if the cost for the three stations remains on budget. Station 8 has already broken ground, and Station 9 will follow soon after.

Click here for more details about the improvement bonds.