VIDEO: A major investment in public safety will soon pay dividends for Tucsonโs south side. The Tucson Fire Department is set to open a new Station 14 thanks to money from the half-cent sales tax that came from Proposition 101. Station 14 has served the southside, from Drexel Road to Liberty Avenue, for nearly 60 years. But Tucsonโs population has grown a lot since then, and the demand was too much for the current station.
That is what prompted the construction of the new station, which will be just down the road off Nogales Highway. โWeโve seen, gosh, from back from 2015, a 60% increase in our call volume. This station ran almost 10,000 calls last year,โ said TFD assistant chief Paul Moore. He said the current facility was built to hold six people, yet theyโve managed to host eight.
The new location will be able to support 11 people. In fact, the entire current building could fit inside the bay of the new location. Moore said itโs about more than just a building. โItโs safety for the folks that work here, weโre getting them the things they need to decontaminate post fire, and on medical scenes, but another component of that is weโre going to be able to get more resources out to the community,โ Moore said.
