The East Grand Fire Protection District broke ground June 6 on its new station on Old Town Drive in Winter Park. The site is currently the Lone Tree Parking Lot, which Winter Park Resort uses for skier parking in the winter.

At the groundbreaking, East Grand Fire employees and volunteers joined with Grand County EMS workers to take some pictures and have lunch. One ambulance, three fire trucks and a lone tree — the parking lot’s namesake — provided the background for the photo op.

East Grand Fire Chief Todd Holzwarth said the district has looked to build a station in the area of Winter Park Resort since the 1980s. With current stations in Tabernash and Fraser, the new station will be the district’s southernmost location.

Grand County EMS will use the station as well, and it will house one ambulance and fire engine, as well as an extra bay. Holzwarth said the district is working on the staffing plan for the station now, as the district largely relies on volunteer firefighters.

The Lone Tree Parking Lot was designated to be a first responder site in the 2000s, Holzwarth said, and the district has been working hard on the project since 2017. The lone tree in the middle of the lot will have to be taken down for the station to be built, but Holzwarth said the district will keep at least a slice of it and somehow display it in the station.

Construction should take around a year and a half, Holzwarth said.