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County officials celebrated the grand opening of the Germantown/ Kingsview Fire Station No. 22 on Friday, the first new station built in the county in more than 25 years.

The first-due area of the west Germantown station, located on 3.9 acres at 18910 Germantown Road, covers 21 square miles in Germantown, Boyds and areas south and west.

The $11 million facility, which began answering calls Feb. 1, is one of two new stations planned to serve the rapidly growing upcounty community. Germantown has grown from a small farming community to a burgeoning suburb with a population of 86,000 people, but was served by one station, Fire Station No. 29 on Crystal Rock Drive, until the opening of the Kingsview facility.

"About seven years ago, I stood in my front yard about a mile down the road from here and watched my neighbor's house burn to the ground," County Councilman Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown said at the opening. "… This community has grown significantly, and we hadn't achieved what we needed to achieve for our residents."

A 1999 county study detailed the need for increased fire services, and the County Council gave the go-ahead for six new fire stations — including four upcounty facilities — in 2000. Construction on the East Germantown Fire Station at Route 355 and Boland Farm Road began in September and is expected to be completed in about a year, said Capt. Allen Keyser of Station No. 22.

"This objective has taken too long. I was still on the County Council when this started," said County Executive Isiah Leggett (D). "… But we have much work ahead. This is a growing area, and this is an investment."

The site selection process for a permanent Clarksburg station is under way, according to Pete Piringer, a county Fire and Rescue Services spokesman. A Travilah station is in the planning stages, he said.

The single-story, 16,150-square-foot Germantown/Kingsview station has six apparatus bays, administrative and living spaces, private quarters and support spaces. Initially, seven people will staff it per shift, and volunteers and additional resources may supplement them as need grows.

Attending the ceremony were several firefighters from the original Station No. 22 on River Road in Potomac. It closed years ago after stations opened in Bethesda and Cabin John, Piringer said.

"We don't want to forget them. We want to make sure we honor these folks and bring them aboard," said Keyser, who was presented with the gold-plated shovel used to break ground on the new station. "There is tradition in this fire department."