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Emergency response times worry residents living in Palm Beach County's Arden community

WPTV found out why this area doesn't currently meet threshold for new fire station
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PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Following last week's deadly crash on Southern Boulevard that claimed the lives of three Palm Beach County deputies, WPTV has received questions about emergency response times in this area.

According to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, the first fire rescue unit arrived six minutes after the first call following the crash, which is average for the county.

But as WPTV reporter Todd Wilson found out, others in the area see twice the response time and are now asking for help.

Daniel Yepes and his family love their Arden community near Wellington.

"It's honestly the best community we've ever lived in," he said.

Daniel Yepes shares his concerns about emergency response time in Arden.
Daniel Yepes shares his concerns about emergency response time in Arden.

Yet, he's concerned with one infrastructure issue he feels has been overlooked.

"It's a little concerning and honestly the current fire station that services us is awesome," Yepes said, 'but just by nature of distance they're very far away and physically can't get here quickly enough."
      
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue told WPTV that the closest fire station is Station 20.

That station is about 5.5 miles away, which plays into response times.

According to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, the average county response time for emergencies is 6:47.

So, what are the average response times for the Arden community? Fire rescue said it's nearly double the time for the county at 12:15.

"How much has to happen before they care enough?" Yepes said.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue spokesman Thomas Reyes shared the threshold for when the agency will ask for a new fire station to be built.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue spokesman Thomas Reyes shared the threshold for when the agency will ask for a new fire station to be built.

When it comes to building a new fire station, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue spokesman Thomas Reyes said the agency calls for the construction of a new station only come once there are three emergency calls a day or about 1,095 calls a year are met for an area.

Reyes said Arden does not meet that threshold yet. He said Fire Rescue is continuously analyzing the call number data to plan for future stations.

"That just really scares me truthfully," resident Raymond Penuela said.

It also scares Yepes who said thousands of people are already living in the area and more are on the way.

"We just want to have our infrastructure so that our kids are safe, the school that's coming up is safe and the growing community around here is always safe," Yepes said.