In an effort to cut down on long response times to fire emergencies, the Perry Fire Department broke ground Tuesday on a new fire station.
The new Davis Farms Fire Station will be on the corner of Langston Road and Houston Lake Road at the Highway 127 Loop.
Joel Gray with the Perry Fire Department says this station is needed to keep response times down. Right now, getting to a call from the east side of town takes up to fifteen minutes.
"The thing that we suffer from every day right now is anxiety," says Gray, "that the call that comes in is from the east part of town because as badly as we want to be there as quickly as we can to have a positive effect on either a medical emergency or a fire, that 11-15 minute response is putting us behind the 8-ball as far as being able to do our job effectively."
Gray says he expects response times to be between two and five minutes once the new station is fully operational.
The new station will house two bays with the capacity to maintain equipment, house staff, administrative space and equipment storage.