Covington has its own fire station as Fire District 37 officials opened the doors for Station 78 at 180th Street Southeast and Southeast 256th Street on Saturday.

One fire engine with a crew of three firefighters will work at the station, according to information provided by fire district officials, and all firefighters posted there will be certified emergency medical technicians. The fire rig is equipped to respond to both fire and medical emergencies.

“This is the first fire station in Covington and it has been a joint partnership,” said Fire Chief Jim Schneider. “It takes a lot of team effort and this gives something back to the community.”

This new station has been planned for a few years now and was originally slated to open in early 2008, but fire district officials decided to delay the work based on several factors that ended up saving district taxpayers nearly $1 million on the project, said Capt. Larry Rabel, community liaison for Kent Fire/Fire District 37.

“When we first went out (to bid) the construction industry was busy,” Rabel told the Reporter in October. “So that delay allowed us to find a better contractor and subcontractors that did quality work.”

This station is set up for maximum response time with the idea being that firefighters can get from anywhere in the building to the engine in 20 seconds or less. This gives personnel the best chance to meet the goal of making it to a scene in seven minutes or less.

The station, which is 17,385 square feet, will also be able to function as a training facility so its personnel can stay close by while still completing mandatory training throughout the year.

Built in a little less than a year, the station cost about $241 per square foot or more than $5 million total. Tax payers living in Fire District 37 agreed to help foot the bill when they passed a levy lid lift in August 2007.

Capt. Phil Herrera, who has overseen construction as project manager for the fire district, explained the station will be fully staffed.

“We work 24-hour shifts,” Herrera said. “There are three on shift at all times. Nice to see it (the station) going and it is exciting for Covington.”

Parking for firefighters is in the rear of the building behind a gate. The engine will also pass through the gate into the apparatus bay when returning from a call. The engine will pull in facing the exit doors in a set up known as a drive through bay. Those doors face 256th Street.

Herrera told the Reporter last fall that the bay doors are also designed to save time. The doors will open in about six seconds versus 18 to 30 seconds at other stations.

Time management is critical. First, the quicker firefighters respond, the quicker a fire can be put out before it hits flashover — the point when everything in the room gets so hot it ignites and explodes — the better.

And when firefighters are responding to aid calls, time is also of the essence, the more seconds shaved off the time it takes to get to someone in distress the higher the likelihood of survival.

Planning for the station also took into account future growth of Covington and the district as a whole, which includes the city as well as unincorporated areas east of Kent, so fire district officials decided station 78 would have to serve the community as it grows during the next 30 years.

A grand opening ceremony is being planned in the upcoming months to provide the public the opportunity to walk through the new fire station.