The Natrona County Fire Protection District probably will not build a westside station on the airport's property, according to Chief Clyde Young.

Instead, the district is considering relocating its main station - known as Station No. 7 - somewhere between Mills and the Casper/Natrona County Airport on Pheasant Drive, Young told the Natrona County commissioners at a work session.

Residents from the Vista West and Dempsey Acres subdivision have complained both to the commissioners and to the fire protection district's board of directors that their requests have been downplayed for a station west of Casper since the creation of the district in 1992. That year, voters approved a three mill - one-10th of a cent - levy on property and motor vehicle taxes to support the district.

The conversations with residents turned colder two years ago when the fire protection district built Station No. 13 - in conjunction with the county morgue - on the east side of Casper.

Last week, about a dozen westside county residents attended a commission work session to further voice their complaints because a fire burned a house in Vista West when the fire department already was dispatched on the east side.

Young and the commissioners had been talking with the airport board about the possibility of locating a station on the airport property, including a shared location with the airport's own fire department.

Airport board officials have said a shared fire station would run afoul of Federal Aviation Administration rules.

Last month, airport officials, the fire protection district and the commissioners tentatively agreed to lease land and build a station on airport property near the old airport entrance on U.S. Highway 20-26.

Board chairman Kermit Willie did not return a phone call on Friday.

But Thursday, Young told the commissioners that the fire protection district could afford to build a third station, estimated up to $600,000, but would not have the $500,000 needed every year to support three three-firefighter shifts.

So the fire protection district's board of directors is considering selling some or all of the land at the Pheasant Drive location to help pay for land and a building for a relocated Station No. 7.

Neither Young nor the commissioners could answer a question why the annual operations cash flow problem had not been raised until now.

Commission Chairman Rob Hendry said Friday the fire protection district needs about seven acres and a building with between 5,000 and 7,000 square feet.

Hendry, a former member of the fire protection district's board, downplayed the concerns about response times and frequency of calls to west side residents.

The district receives most of its calls from Alcova, followed by the east side of the county, and then the airport, he said.

Relocating or building a new station at the airport on Highway 20-26 would delay response times to Alcova because firefighters would have to travel east to access Wyoming Highway 220, Hendry added.

Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@trib.com.