Arvada Fire Protection District breaks ground on new station

AFPD Station 9 to be located near Candelas, to open in spring 2022

Ryan Dunn
rdunn@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Posted 5/6/21

Construction crews' broke ground on the Arvada Fire Protection District's Station 9 on April 24. The station is located near Candelas Parkway and Highway 72 and will be completed by spring 2022, …

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Arvada Fire Protection District breaks ground on new station

AFPD Station 9 to be located near Candelas, to open in spring 2022

Posted

Construction crews' broke ground on the Arvada Fire Protection District's Station 9 on April 24. The station is located near Candelas Parkway and Highway 72 and will be completed by spring 2022, according to AFPD Project Lead Kevin Ferry.

AFPD acquired the parcel of land in 2019. With the Candelas neighborhood growing in size, Ferry said that the AFPD felt that section of Arvada has the potential for demand to grow and placed the station strategically to increase AFPD's response time.

“We used GIS data based upon incidents, historical response, and particular responses into the Candelas area,” said Ferry of the AFPD's process for determining the site of Station 9. “We knew that site area is developing, and the potential demand is going to increase, so we wanted to make sure that we plotted the station where it will be the best long-term solution for the district and its residents.”

Ferry added that the AFPD's coverage area comprises 45 square miles and that the District has a targeted medical response goal of four minutes — the amount of time brain damage takes to set in when someone experiences a cardiac arrest.

The District's total response time — comprised of time needed to process the 9-1-1 call, prepare equipment and leave the station, and reach the location of the emergency — is currently stated to be just over nine minutes district-wide and between 13 and 14 minutes in the Candelas area. Their benchmark response targets are between seven and eight minutes.

The AFPD is one of 103 fire departments in the U.S. to achieve an ISO Class 1 classification and an accreditation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, in part thanks to their response time statistics.

Ferry said that Station 9 will be a standard station with the capability to provide fire response and advanced life support. The AFPD does not anticipate putting a medical transport unit at the station but plans on pulling from existing ambulances and medical transport units in the District.

He added that Station 9 will be built with firefighter's health in mind, stating that to combat the risk of occupational cancer, precautions including covering concrete and installing special lighting to minimize the trauma of going from being asleep to waking up and rapidly responding to a call will be included in the station's construction.

“One of the biggest concerns and one of the biggest challenges that we've faced in the fire service is occupational cancer,” said Ferry. “Over the last decade or so, it's become very prominent in the fire service, that various forms of cancer and the occurrence of those in firefighters is high compared to other populations or other occupational groups.

“And so, a lot of things are taken into consideration now in building stations,” Ferry continued, “and even in our older stations that we're trying to retrofit or address and things like the contamination showers and separation of living quarters from the apparatus.”

Candelas resident Amanda Reiter said that she is excited that the AFPD will be opening a station in her neighborhood.

“We're really excited that they decided to make Candelas their new home,” said Reiter. “When I moved here in 2015, our closest police and fire services were 10 minutes away. With the immense growth in this area we really do need these services and I think it'll make people feel safer and better to move their homes and businesses here.”

AFPD, CAndelas, Station 9

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