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North Potomac and nearby Rockville residents may soon get a long-awaited fire station called for in a 1999 county study. Initially planned to be attached to the Public Services Training Academy, the new station is now planned for the intersection of Darnestown and Shady Grove roads.

Dubbed Travilah Fire Station No. 32, the four-bay station could open by fiscal 2013, pending budget approvals. According to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue officials, increasing density in the North Potomac and Traville areas were the impetus for the new station — along with the planned development associated with the Gaithersburg West Master Plan. There, a proposed "Science City" could add 12 million square feet of commercial space and nearly 6,000 residences in and around the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center.

But current development is enough to warrant a station that will allow firefighters to more easily meet their goal of a six-minute response time, said Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Chief Richard R. Bowers Jr.

Already, Fire and Rescue Services receives a high volume of calls from the area — about 4,200 calls in the last fiscal year, compared to about 100,000 per year countywide.

"As soon as this station opens up, it will be hopping, so to speak," Bowers told The Gazette at a public information session hosted by Fire and Rescue on Thursday evening.

The session sought to draw public feedback about the plans for the station, but turnout was low.

The Shady Grove, Traville and North Potomac areas are located in service areas for stations at Darnestown and Quince Orchard roads in Gaithersburg, and on Hungerford Drive in Rockville. The distance of the stations can sometimes make it a "challenge" to meet the goal of a six-minute response time, Bowers said.

The area includes the Traville Village Center, the Fallsgrove Village Center, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, The Universities at Shady Grove, along with nearby residences and nursing homes.

Development of the station had been mired by funding concerns, along with an initial plan to attach the new station to the Public Services Training Academy that never panned out. The station is planned to be a 19,000-square-foot standalone building in light of County Executive Isiah Leggett's plan to move the training academy, along with other public agencies, to the 130-acre Webb Tract near Montgomery Village to clear the way for the Gaithersburg West development plans.

The station is expected to be either one or two stories with primary access on Darnestown Road. It's planned to accommodate a fire engine, an EMS unit, a battalion chief vehicle, as well as 6-12 Fire and Rescue personnel.

According to Blaise DeFazio, a county management and budget specialist, $5,889,000 is allocated in the fiscal 2009-2014 capital improvements program budget for planning and design of the project. Full construction costs will be dependant on Leggett's January recommendation for the fiscal 2011-2016 capital improvements program budget, which he will transmit to the County Council for approval.