FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – A Fort Wayne man is concerned about his safety and that of his family as the new station opens.

The West Central Fire District Board has been discussing the location of the new fire station for over a year.

Tim Knitter has lived in Stratford Forest near Bass Road for 20 years and says he has always had the comfort of knowing that the first responders at Arcola Station were on the same side of the railway tracks.

“But they don’t want to use that station,” Knitter said. “They want to close Arcola and use the station on Bass Road. That means I’ll never have a first responder again who doesn’t have to walk across tracks to get to my house.”

As a father of four children, this is a major concern for Knitter. He told 21Alive News that he hasn’t missed more than two board meetings in the last year and a half.

“And it’s annoying when you know that you have concerns from the beginning and they are completely ignored,” said Knitter.

Chris Perez, chief of the West Central Fire District Office, told 21Alive News that concerns about the tracks were minimal. “What we’ve seen is that our people, our crews that are leaving from the Arcola station, have had no issues crossing those tracks.”

Knitter, however, disagrees: “I was just about to leave and couldn’t even get out of the annex. The whole street was full of cars.”

The board has not yet decided whether to build the new station on Bass Road or renovate the existing stations.

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