- The City of Port Aransas recently received $2.9 million from FEMA to finalize funding for the new fire and EMS facility that's been under construction since March.
- The old volunteer fire department building was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and they have been in a temporary facility since.
- Port Aransas City Manager David Parsons says it was a long battle with FEMA to obtain these funds for the project.
- Construction on the new fire and EMS facility is set to be complete in summer 2025.
As of September 2024, the City of Port Aransas received $2.9 million from FEMA to finalize the funding for the new fire/EMS facility. In March 2024, KRIS 6 News reported on the groundbreaking of the new combined fire and EMS facility in Port Aransas.The old volunteer fire station was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. The overall cost of construction is $10.1 million for the 19,270-square-foot building and it will house EMS, in addition to the fire department. As of March, the funding for the project was not completely in place because the city was still trying to obtain additional funding from FEMA.
“We just hit seven years in August. And it’s been hard, but it’s been incredible, what FEMA has done for the city. So even though, you’re in the room butting heads, and it takes years and years of effort, at the end of the day, the city of Port Aransas is extremely grateful to FEMA," Port Aransas City Manager David Parsons said.
The new facility has been under construction since March at the corner of Ninth Street and E Avenue C in Port Aransas, right across the street from the temporary Port Aransas Volunteer Fire Department building.
“These new buildings that they put up right over here, these, we’ve been in them for about I’d say about 6 years now, since 2018. And they said it was a very very short-term thing. It ended up turning into a long-term thing until they could get the funding from FEMA, but we're glad to finally have a place we can go to, now," 5-year Port Aransas volunteer firefighter Jack Hogan said.
According to the city manager, the new building will stand at an elevation of eleven feet and it is designed to weather a 50-year storm.
“Harvey shifted it, ripped it in half. I mean, it did a lot of damage. It was an old steel structure, so, wasn’t a great building. It was only at seven-foot elevation," Parsons said.
The Port Aransas volunteer fire department and EMS staff have been housed in separate, small, temporary buildings since Hurricane Harvey.
“It feels great knowing that we’re able to get the help we actually need, and get a full-time place that we can go to," Hogan said.
In addition to the first responders, residents and visitors in Port Aransas will also receive the benefits of the new state-of-the-art fire and EMS facility.
“It’ll be faster response time, it’ll be a better setup so we can get our gear back in order to go to the next call afterward," Hogan said.
The city manager said it was not easy getting the $2.9 million in FEMA funds to complete the funding for the project, but he is happy with the result.
“It’s been a long battle with them, but we’re extremely happy with what they’ve done for us," Parsons said.
The construction of the new fire and EMS facility is set to be completed in summer 2025.
"Personally, I'm proud that FEMA has done such a good job for the city...We're excited to move in," Parsons said.
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