San Marcos — The city broke ground Tuesday on a new 19,960 square foot San Marcos Central Fire Station at 100 Carlson Circle.

The facility, which will be built on about four acres, will house fire administration, five and a half bays for fire apparatus, a training classroom, 13 bedrooms, physical fitness room, bunker gear storage, decontamination area and a maintenance room for breathing apparatus.

Located in River Ridge near Interstate 35, the station will serve the corridor and the northeast area of San Marcos. It will replace the current central fire station on Hutchison Street built in 1968.

"I can think of no better way to begin 2009 than by breaking ground on an important new facility for San Marcos – a new central fire station located at the gateway to San Marcos," Mayor Susan Narvaiz said.

The $5 million facility was approved by voters in a 2005 bond election after being recommended by a blue ribbon bond committee.

Stokes Construction of San Marcos was awarded the building contract. Construction is estimated to be completed in 395 days, or March 2010.

The new facility has been designed to have a number of environmentally friendly features, including the steel and concrete used in construction, lighting, floor finishes, appliances, plumbing fixtures and countertops.

Three location studies have been conducted since 1980 and the new location, near River Ridge Parkway, will provide a more strategic location for delivering services to San Marcos, city officials said.

The city credited former Fire Chief Mike Baker and a committee of fire department personnel as being instrumental in the design and development of the station. Dan O'Leary and Todd Derkacz, former SMFR fire chiefs, laid the groundwork for the project through the capital improvements program (CIP) process and bond election, city officials said.

No plans have yet been made for the future use of the old building.

San Marcos Fire Rescue is the oldest city department, founded in 1873 as a volunteer department organized in three companies.

A 1906 Sanborn map of San Marcos said that the San Marcos Fire Department was composed of “50 volunteers, 1 paid man, 3 horses, 1 hook and ladder wagon, 2 hose wagons, and 1,600 feet of good hose.” 

In 1914 the station burned down, killing the fire horses.  This forced the department to buy its first mechanized vehicle and build a Fire Station/City Hall on Guadalupe Street.  By the 1940s, the department had grown to more than 80 volunteers under the leadership of Chief Lewis Haynes, who served as chief of the department for 46 years.

The department still owns “Old Betsy,” an antique 1926 American LaFrance pumper, as well as a classic 1963 Ford Galaxy chief’s car.

Career firefighters came on the scene in the 1960s and have grown to fully staff four stations.