Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue (TMFR) broke ground on a new fire station on Monday.
Fire Station 35 will be located on the north side of Interstate 80, off Waltham Way near the Apple data center.
Construction on the station is expected to be finished around this same time next year, but TMFR says construction can be unpredictable at times.
TMFR says this new fire station will help them address the I-80 corridor east of Vista Boulevard.
"So, USA Parkway is Storey County's jurisdiction. However, we do respond under mutual aid with Storey County out to USA Parkway and along the I-80 corridor," said Interim Fire Chief Dale Way, TMFR.
Interim Chief Way says there are about 100 calls for this area a year.
"Storey County is responding to about 75 percent of those incidents, with us usually coming after the fact," the Interim Chief said during a press conference at the groundbreaking ceremony on Monday. "But now we'll either be there before them or at the same time, asking for their assistance."
The closest Truckee Meadows Fire presence right now is Station 37 in Hidden Valley, which is almost 20 miles away.
The new station is less than 10 miles from the area.
TMFR says this will help them respond to more crashes on and brush fires near the freeway, and provide more mutual aid to folks living in Fernley and Wadsworth.
The station will be 1,300 square feet and will house a fire engine, a brush engine and a water tender.
There will be about four to eight firefighters staffed for 24 hours a day.
Staffing will depend on the volume of calls that station will receive.
Storey County thinks it'll be great help for their efforts.
"So, Station 75—which is our station in the tri-center—is our busiest station; and so we're thrilled that it's going to be right here," said Clay Mitchell, Storey County Fire Commissioner. "It's going to help lots of incidents as you know on I-80. Our guys have been rolling automatically to help out with those, but this will allow great cooperation, better response times."
This fire station is a part of the agreement Washoe County and Apple had when they built the data center more than a decade ago.
"We're proud and honored to have donated the land to help make this happen, and also make a significant contribution with the construction," said Melissa Shield, Senior Director of Global Real Estate.
The entire project is expected to cost about $16 million.
There are talks about TMFR building a fire station our in Washoe Valley too.
"I don't have much to add on that right now," Interim Chief Way said. "Funding is a huge issue out in Washoe Valley."
