JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Newly-opened Fire Station No. 63 in Baymeadows helped stop the spread of a fire Sunday morning at a four-story apartment building under construction.
The new squad’s success comes as a plan for a new fire station building on Jacksonville’s Southside is in the works.
Fire Station No. 63 is located at Gate Parkway near J. Turner Butler Boulevard and Interstate 295 -- about a mile away from where the fire started at the Fusion Apartment at Baymeadows, which is being built along Baymeadows Road East. Fire Station No. 63 was the first engine to respond, proving its worth to some taxpayers who doubted whether the station was needed.
City Councilman Danny Becton, who led the push to get the station approved, told News4Jax on Monday that he’s thankful to see that effort paid off.
“This fire could have very easily got out of control and encroached on a neighborhood that has already seen a couple of homes damaged by fire," Becton said.
The station opened in September. It’s currently made up of a trailer and a two-bay garage while construction for the permeant firehouse is in the works.
“We don’t have to have more stations than we need, but we can have a station in the right place, at the right location," Becton said.
Becton said that’s why he’s working to getting another fire station approved. It would be located south of Fire Station No. 63.
“I hope to be announcing this year this new station that will fulfill the requirements we have in the south part of our county,” Becton said.
Becton also sent an email Sunday afternoon, thanking his fellow council members for helping get that additional fire station open.