Austin Public Works, the Austin Fire Department, and Austin-Travis County EMS broke ground today on the Goodnight Ranch joint Fire/EMS station, the fourth of five high-priority stations being built to keep up with the city’s population growth. In May 2018, Council passed a Resolution to develop a plan to fund and build five new Fire/EMS stations in six years, serving areas with low response times and/or high population growth. What will be AFD Station #53/EMS Station #42 is the fourth in the series {Del Valle/Moore’s Crossing (opened July 2020); Travis Country/Sunset Valley (opened July 2021); Loop 360/Davenport (slated to open Spring 2023)}, leaving just one station left to complete Council’s directive; that facility will be located in the Canyon Creek/620 area and is currently in the design phase.

District 2 Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, who represents the community members this station will serve, expressed her excitement with this project: “One of the most important roles I play as a local leader is ensuring our communities have access to quick and reliable public safety. This new joint Fire/EMS Station will provide faster response times while addressing the City’s rapid growth, especially in our Southeast Austin communities. I’m proud to say that once completed, this station will be the second high-priority station built in Southeast Austin in the last three years.”

"This has been a true collaborative effort to make sure these high-priority stations stay on track,” Interim Austin Transportation Director Richard Mendoza added. Partners include the Austin Fire Department, Austin-Travis County EMS, Austin Energy, Austin Water, as well as the City’s offices of Budget and Finance, Capital Contracting, Real Estate Services, and more. He continued, “That speaks to the level of commitment and focus the team has to deliver these important community assets, and I couldn’t be more grateful for everyone’s hard work."

“Our goal is to respond to those we serve in eight minutes or less, 90 percent of the time,” said Fire Chief Joel G. Baker. “This latest addition to the public safety fabric of this community is an exciting development as we get closer towards the goal of seeing five new stations completed in six years. We are grateful to the Mayor, Council, City Manager, and all those who have worked so hard in making this station, as well as the others, a reality, and we look forward to being back at this site next year for the grand opening!”

"This station is another important step in the right direction towards providing our residents with the most equitable deployment of EMS resources across the city," said ATCEMS Chief Robert Luckritz. "We are so thankful to our City leaders and the residents of Austin for their support of this initiative and our department."

Features of the new Goodnight Ranch station include:

• 15,200 SF + training stairs;
• Four pull-through apparatus bays;
• Eleven Fire dorms; four EMS dorms;
• Common Day Room, Kitchen, and Gym;
• Parking for 21 station personnel; and
• Exterior space for station personnel.

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