Facing growth, Aurora Fire looks for expansion

It isn't hard to recognize how the city of Aurora is growing, as new houses are popping up daily on the city's east side.

Now, the city is planning to expand its fire department in order to keep up with all the growth.

A 16th fire station is set to be built at the new Gaylord Rockies hotel project near Denver International Airport. Station five off Airport Blvd. is scheduled to be expanded as well.

Then, there's station 15. It's literally a house! The station, located in the Murphy Creek neighborhood, was a show home 10 years ago but was converted into a fire station not too long ago. 

"We need a real fire station," said Captain Mike Ackman.

The four-bedroom home is good for a family, but not so good for a group of grown men working 24-hours a day.

"The house takes a beating," said Ackman.

The Aurora Fire Department said the city has a $5-8 million budget to build the two new stations and to expand Station 5.

"When you have cities and budgets and things like that... you get the money that you can and build stations when you can," he said.

The new Station 15 could be up and running by 2017. The "little house on the prairie," as firefighters call Station 15 now, will then be decommissioned and put on the market to be sold as a residential home.

So if you're a boat and RV owner, you may want to check it out -- it has a 15-foot high garage that's currently being used to accommodate the fire truck.