A new fire station that has long been awaited is in the works for residents of Benton County Fire District #4 off of Keene Road and Highway 224. The station plans are being looked over by the city and the Port of Kennewick and seeing progress this week. This new fire station would be the first new station built in the district in over 20 years. The fire district began advertising for construction bids on August 27. These plans are unfolding after voters in 2018 approved a bond to purchase land and build a new station in the western part of the fire district’s service territory. This investment will improve response times and provide additional capacity for back-to-back emergencies. Currently, it can take almost 17 minutes to respond to an emergency that happens in the western part of the fire district.