Fern Creek Fire and EMS expands Station 73 to meet Highview’s rapid growth

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville's Highview area is expanding quickly, and the fire department is growing to match that demand.

"The residents in this area were getting eight to 10 minute response time," said Highview Fire District Deputy Chief Rob Dwyer. "Maybe even longer from Preston Highway or Fegenbush Lane."

Fern Creek Fire and EMS held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday for the newly renovated and expanded Station 73. It's located on Cedar Creek Road.

The Highview area has seen more than 3,000 homes built over the past year.

"There's just a ton of growing amenities down here," resident Elijah Kerns said. "It's just an exciting place to be."

"Subdivisions are popping up all over," said Fern Creek Fire & EMS Chief Scott Evans. "We also have automatic aid with Bullitt County residents."

Fire officials said some of this area was left vulnerable because of that increased need for services.

"We don't anticipate to have a huge volume out here," Dwyer said. "But we do have an area that was unprotected, so now we're fully protected."

That's why Fern Creek Fire and EMS took over an old volunteer fire station and modernized it. The bigger facility has a weight room, storm shelter, kitchen, and individual bedrooms and bathrooms. This allows four firefighters and two  EMS personnel to comfortably stay there around the clock.

"We didn't have to increase the tax rates and changing things in the district," Nathan Mulvey, retired Fern Creek Fire & EMS Chief, said. "To me, that's a huge win."

In WDRB's previous reporting, Mulvey said goal was to have 18 more full-time staff members at Station 73. Firefighters said this project is an investment in the safety and well-being of the people they serve every day.

"Time matters when it comes to serving the public," Evans said. "Minutes matter."

He said the updated station is already "proving a need." Early Friday morning, Fern Creek Fire & EMS along with Okolona Fire crews arrived at a house fire in the 6000 block of Mandeville Drive.

Fire companies arrived on scene within minutes, and it took 20 firefighters 30 minutes to get that fire under control. 

No one was home at the time of the fire and there were no injuries reported. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Evans said, moving forward, response times should be cut down to just four to six minutes because of Station 73. He said the national average is roughly eight minutes.

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