Work on Clanton’s third fire station is underway.

Plans call for the station to encompass about 9,500 square feet and come with a price tag of $1.6 million.

It will be located near Interstate 65 Exit 212, in the shadow of the Peach Water Tower. Construction began about three weeks ago, CPD Chief David Driver said, and is scheduled to be completed by spring 2013.

“That whole end of town was being serviced by the station that is downtown,” Driver said of north Clanton. “If you look at a map of the city, it’s a lot wider north and south than it is east and west; that’s why the decision was made to have stations on the northern and southern ends of town.”

Station 3, with two bays, will be slightly smaller than Station 2, which has three bays. Station 2 is located off Highway 31 near I-65 Exit 205.

Aside from public safety, Driver said the station could help residents by lowering the city’s ISO rating (thus saving residents money on their homeowner’s insurance) and attracting business and industry.

“When the station is complete, all three stations will have living quarters for future growth,” Driver said. “The city currently has one full-time personnel and 23 on-call firefighters that live throughout the city.

“We have personnel that live close to where the station is going to be built, so rather than having to drive all the way into downtown to get a truck from the downtown station, we can pick up a truck from this station and give us a much quicker response time to the Lomax and Lay Dam Road near I-65 areas.”

Clanton’s ISO dropped from a 6 to a 5 during the last analysis, giving most home owners and business owners lower insurance premiums. The third station could drop the city’s ISO to a 4.

Another benefit could be the attractiveness to business and industry considering locating to the city.

“Often times, large industry want a full-time fire department in order to locate in a particular area,” Driver said. “If we did not have the stations built, it would take years to plan and build fire stations, but with the stations in place, if the need did arise to staff the stations, it would only take a couple months to get that accomplished.”