St. Johns County has announced plans for building a fire station in Nocatee. The county expects that Nocatee residents could enjoy the benefits of having a fire station in their own community by early 2015. The proposed fire station site is located across from the Nocatee Welcome Center and Splash Water Park amenities. Read the full News4Jax news report for more on this exciting new community addition!

Nocatee could soon get fire station

Residents of Nocatee, the fastest growing community in Florida, are anxious to see a fire station built in the area.

"I think it would be great," resident Nausheen Asheaf said. "We do have a fire station, but it's not at all close by. So to know that safety is right around the corner would be a great aspect and another great selling point for the Nocatee area."

It's about a 12-17-minute drive from the closet fire station to Nocatee, depending on which part of Nocatee firefighters would travel to. That time estimate is without lights and sirens.

"It would be important to me because I have a child at home, and of course if there were something to happen, I would feel better if they were close by," resident Stephanie Fish said.

County Commissioner Chairman Jay Morris said another plus for residents is they would save money.

"There's about 2,000 residents, and it was indicated they could save about $1,000 off their fire insurance," Morris said.

The county would save, too, because the developer has set aside land and would help fund the fire station in conjunction with the Davis family, which owned the property on which Nocatee was built.

"The county did not have the money to," Morris said. "We don't have the money for this, but when they stepped up to the plate and pre-funded the impact fees, we're able to get this off the ground. So it's coming a lot sooner than had it gone through the normal process."

The county would still have to pay for staffing the fire station.

So far, no contracts are in place, but the County Commission is scheduled to vote on the issue Tuesday.

If it passes, Morris estimates it would take about a year to complete.