JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A brand new fire station opened its doors on the Northside on Thursday morning, filling a major gap in the area.
The new Fire Station 47 is located off of Ethel Road near the Jacksonville National Cemetery in the Pecan Park area.
Mayor Donna Deegan and Fire Chief Keith Powers said the investment will lead to faster response times and cheaper home insurance for homeowners who live nearby.
“These stations mean shorter response times in the event of a medical emergency or fire when seconds can matter. It means lower insurance premiums and ultimately it means lives saved,” Deegan said.
The new station was funded through Mayor Deegan’s Capital Improvement Plan which dedicated $25 million for 10 fire stations — a combination of new construction and renovating existing stations.
“This fire station has been needed in this area for a lot of years, my whole career, which is almost 30 years, and probably more than that,” Powers said.
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The opening of this fire station will save homeowners money on their insurance premiums. With the response times cut in half, homeowners will get a card in the mail soon that lets them know how they can get that discount.
“Pay attention to it because it’s instructions on here on how we can help you potentially lower your homeowner’s insurance premiums. And that’s very important. It can be it can be pretty significant in a lot of cases,” Powers said.
Before the opening of this fire station, Northside neighbors had average response times of 13 minutes and 39 seconds. Now, JFRD’s response time will be more in line with the national standard.
Crews will be able to respond to emergencies and fires in 8 minutes or less.
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The ability to save lives and properties faster is directly related to how much people pay for home insurance.
“It’s specific to the address, you know, to the, you know, how big the house is, how much the house is valued at or the business,” Powers said. “But what I can tell you is we’ve been seeing some, some numbers in the in a 50% range or greater, when we’ve opened other fire stations that we’re in ISO class ten area.”
Homeowners living within 5 miles of the new fire station can expect to get a card in the mail in the next few weeks. Just follow the instructions to save.