By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

The new $4.9 million Volente Fire Station #1 is midway through construction and by next year will serve a population of 2,565 residents who are surrounded by 10 square miles of Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.

“The new fire station construction is now at the halfway point after six months. The project is on schedule and on budget,” said Lonnie Moore, president of the Travis County Emergency Services District No. 14. 

“The new station will enhance the department’s responsiveness and provide better living conditions for our firefighters,” Moore shared.

Volente Fire Department has a full-time staff  24/7 serving the RM 620 and RM 2222/Bullick Hollow and 2769 and Lime Creek areas.  

The station has 12 full-time employees and always has a team of three firefighters on duty. 

Construction is taking place next to the existing fire hall at 15406 FM 2769. “Luckily we own the five acre track next door to the existing fire station,” Moore said. 

Excavation started soon after the groundbreaking ceremony in October. Then the slab was poured, the superstructure for the bay area was completed, and the wall studs and door frames were erected.  

To raise funds for the Volente Fire Department, a Volente Spring Bash BBQ was held April 26. There was a raffle and silent auction, bake sale, and live music by Jaded at the Volente Fire Hall. The hall is the main gathering place for the village which has some 780 residents in its two-square-miles.

Chief Rob Zimmerman has been at the Volente Fire Department for 15 years and he looks forward to the new station. 

“Currently the fire station that we work out of has been around for 63 years and we are looking forward to having an asset for our community that will last for the next sixty years,” Zimmerman said.

The current station was commissioned in 1960 as the first volunteer fire department in Travis County. Initially there were only volunteer firefighters and their wives formed the VFD Ladies Auxiliary to help raise money for equipment. It later changed its name to the VFD Auxiliary not long after Moore joined the group.

Now Volente Fire Department is part of the Travis County Emergency Service District No. 14 which serves a population of 2,565 people in 16 square miles which includes Volente. Ten square miles of ESD 14 is Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.  

“It’s the only fire station in our community and it is quite a large community with small narrow roadways so you need a station centrally located in order to meet the response time requirements our neighbors deserve,” Moore said.

The canyonlands remain in their natural state without trimming so they can pose a wildfire threat during the right conditions. Being able to protect the community and property from potential wildfire is an important role of Volente Fire. The station was instrumental in the 2011 wildfire season and was one of the first on the scene when wildfire reached Steiner Ranch where more than 20 homes were destroyed.

In a typical year, VFD responds to about two to three structure fires a year, Zimmerman shared.

The Volente community is looking forward to the completion of its new fire station.

“We expect major construction to be completed in November 2025 and the fire department to be fully operational in the new building by January 1, 2026,” Moore said. “The entire community has expressed its support, and we look forward to hosting a public open house at the new facility after completion.”