The Woodlands Township breaks ground on new Fire Station No. 5

THE WOODLANDS, TX - The Woodlands Township and The Woodlands Fire Department held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, August 22, 2024, signifying the start of construction on a new Fire Station No. 5. Located at 8001 McBeth Way near the Sterling Ridge Park and Ride, the new fire station will comprise 23,000 square feet.

“The construction of this fire station has been a long-held goal of the Board of Directors, both current and past,” said Board Chairman Dr. Ann K. Snyder. “Today marks an incredible crucial step in ensuring the safety and well-being of our residents and villages. This project would not be possible without the collaboration of The Woodlands Fire Department, Township President/CEO Monique Sharp, Montgomery County Hospital District and all of the staff, EMS and firefighters who worked to make this happen. I want to express my deepest appreciation to everyone who has contributed.”

Vice Chairman Kyle Watson echoed those sentiments. “It is important to thank the directors who preceded us, and all of the staff involved,” he said. “The construction of this fire station serves as a symbol of the ongoing commitment of the Township to public safety in The Woodlands.”

"This project has been a long time coming,” said The Woodlands Fire Department Chief Palmer Buck. “I’ve been here for five years, and we have been working diligently since I started to make this station a reality. We are thankful today to see that work coming to fruition alongside Jeremy Stovall of Brookstone Construction, architect Ricardo Martinez, and Randy Johnson and Melissa Miller of MCHD. We also thank Brazos Transit District for their support in this project via the land transfer for the construction of the new station.”

The new two-story station meets the expansion needs of the department and moves the station out of the path of a congested school zone, placing it much closer to Woodlands Parkway and allowing for a more efficient response to its coverage area. The new build will incorporate features such as traditional fire poles to facilitate rapid response along with state-of-the-art technology. Upon completion, Station No. 5 will serve as The Woodlands Fire Department’s west headquarters and will house nine firefighters who will staff an engine company and a ladder company, in addition to a battalion chief and a Montgomery County Hospital District (MCHD) ambulance with two to three paramedics.

The need for a new fire station was determined as a result of underlying structural issues causing deterioration to the existing facility on West Branch Crossing. A 2019 study by Terracon Consulting indicated that many of the previously documented conditions had worsened in addition to identifying new or previously unknown structural issues with the facility. After evaluating the findings, it was determined that the cost of repairing all the structural issues of Station No. 5 plus the expansion of the existing station to accommodate another fire company would be similar to the cost of constructing a new fire station.

The construction will be managed by Brookstone Construction with design by Martinez Architects. The total cost for the project will be $12.1 million. The project will take an estimated 14 months to build and is slated for completion in late 2025.

The Woodlands Fire Department is a leader in the field of fire protection and prevention with a designation of Public Protection Class 1, commonly referred to as ISO 1.