Queen Creek Fire highlights station needs and requests inspectors, training support

Fire Chief Vance Gray told council the department is planning for station expansion and additional personnel to preserve response-time goals as the town grows. Gray said the department's fire master plan identified an eventual need for additional stations; staff proposed Fire Station 6 (Ellsworth/Riggs area) as the next build priority, with design activity expected within the five-year horizon and a target opening tied to projected call-volume growth.

Gray said the town is monitoring travel-time and coverage metrics used to locate new stations; the department's goal is to have apparatus en route and arriving within target response-time windows cited in the master plan. He reported call-volume increases of about 3% to 4% annually in the most active response areas.

To meet both inspection and operations needs, Gray asked for two additional fire-inspector positions to handle new-construction plan review and annual inspections and to reduce the need to pull operations staff off other duties. The department also proposed hiring a full-time (40-hour) fire engineer as an in-house trainer and driver-certification instructor; Gray said he plans a mid-year budget request for that position rather than adding it to the FY26 base.

Gray noted the town's continuing work for the Queen Creek County Island Fire District (outlying unincorporated areas) and said the island contract provides revenue and extends service coverage. He said much of the department's near-term capital spending will support station design and pieces of apparatus already ordered. The council did not act on these personnel requests during the April 8 session; they were included in the manager's recommended budget for further review.