Manteca is breaking ground for its third new fire station in 15 years.
Groundbreaking ceremonies will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 10:30 a.m. at the site of the city’s fifth station at Atherton Drive and Eastwood Avenue.
The city built a replacement station on South Union Road in 2003 that now serves as the department headquarters when Manteca had 57,200 residents. Manteca started its fourth station on Lathrop Road in 2013 when Manteca had 71,164 residents. It is now starting construction of its fifth station this year with the city population at 81,450.
The first station provided for the fire department by the City of Manteca was part of the brick city hall built in 1923. The two-story building that also housed the post office, city hall, and rented space to private firms still stands today at Sycamore and Manteca avenues across from Library Park. The second station was built on Center Street next to the old Yosemite School campus. It was eventually converted into a building for the municipal maintenance division after the Union Road station opened.
The Powers Avenue station that served as the headquarters station until the Union Road station was built was constructed in the 1960s. The Louise Avenue station west of Main Street was built in the 1980s.
The city expects to need a sixth station in the coming years to serve southwest Manteca with the location being in the general areas of the intersection of McKinley Avenue and Woodward Avenue.
The Woodward Avenue/Atherton Drive fire station is expected to be completed in mid-2020.
The Manteca City Council last week approved a $4.5 million agreement with CT Brayton & Sons to finish the remaining design and construction of the fire station.
The area the station will serve includes more than 2,600 homes in rapidly growing southeast Manteca that are currently outside of the targeted 5-minute response time the city targets for optimum results in medical emergencies and fires.
In a March report to the City Council, Fire Chief Kyle Shipherd noted the department is on track to surpass 1,000 calls for service this year in the area generally east of Main Street and south of the 120 Bypass. By 2020 that number is expected to exceed 1,250 a year. Of the 1,000 calls expected this year, 300 are on the 120 Bypass and Highway 99 corridors that would be within the station’s assigned coverage area.
The 6,711-square-foot station is being built on land donated 14 years ago by AKF Development.
The design is being done in template fashion so it can be used for future stations including the sixth station expected to be built in southwest Manteca in the general vicinity of the Woodward Avenue and McKinley Avenue intersection.
The station features a basic “L” design with four dorm rooms, two officers, living area, exercise area, task specific rooms and bays designed to accommodate larger apparatus than the standard fire engine company if need be.