RTFC clearing 21-acres for $12 million emergency response complex

April 15--CORPUS CHRISTI -- Refinery Terminal Fire Co. started April 6, 1948, with a 20-foot-wide Quonset hut, one full-time firefighter, one firetruck and a few foam machines.

Now it's among the largest U.S. nonprofit industrial firefighting groups with 170 personnel and five trucks, including its newest $1.4 million Ferrara specialty foam pumper and two 80-foot aerial boom firetrucks.

The company's nine-member board approved plans this month to build a $6.2 million 39,221-square-foot firehouse and a separate 12,246-square-foot administration building in the 1000 block of McBride Lane.

"It's a big deal for us," CEO Lonnie Bartlett said.

Bartlett was among more than three dozen people who gathered at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday for a groundbreaking on the 21-acre lot on McBride Lane alongside MarkWest Javelina, which previously owned the land.

"You couldn't walk through it," Bartlett said. "It was brushy wasteland full of snakes and rats."

With some $6 million in site work, driveways and equipment Bartlett expects spending to top $12 million.

"Everybody's really excited," Deputy Fire Chief Paul Swetish said.

Division Fire Chief Matthew Gunter echoed his sentiment.

"They're not sparing any expense on the stuff we're going to need," Gunter said.

Features of the planned complex include seven drive-thru bays, with 11,000 square feet of living quarters and a training room. It replaces the current station built in 1961 on Up River Road.

The company has responded to thousands of fires, hazardous materials releases, rescues and medical emergencies at the oil, petrochemical, pipeline and port facilities of its 16 corporate members. It responds to more than 700 incidents annually, Swetish said.

Services are funded through memberships, which pay an annual assessment for fire protection. Flint Hills, Citgo and Valero pay assessments for each of their multiple operations, making 21 collective members. The fire company is owned by Corpus Christi Port Industries, which also pays an assessment for services.

Industrial fire fighting requires specialized training and the company operates its own 18-week training academy, with emphasis on 14 unique areas including hazardous materials, confined space, high angle, and trench rescue training.

It also manages in-plant programs with round-the-clock teams in major plants, including Lyondellbasell, Koch and Citgo's refineries; as well as contracted facilities in Chocolate Bayou, Port Arthur and Meridian, Mississippi.

The company also operates an independent Crisis Management Dispatch, manned 24-hours a day. It's responsible for industry and public notifications -- including activating warning sirens, telephone notification systems and the local emergency radio station FM 89.5.

Safety in industry, for the public and its own personnel is paramount, Swetish said.

"We've had only minor, minor injuries," he said. "And have never lost a life."

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