AIKEN --- A new EMS and fire station on Whiskey Road could be going up soon.

County and city officials are finishing details on splitting the cost of the station, which will speed up response times to emergencies on the city's south side.

The county council could approve the agreement at its meeting Tuesday. City Administrator Roger LeDuc said that once the financial details are worked out -- with Aiken paying 60 percent of the costs -- construction could begin a couple of months after a contractor is hired.

Construction could take about 120 days, he said.

"It's nothing more than a great big house with a great big garage," Mr. LeDuc said.

Both the county, which supplies EMS services, and the city, which provides fire protection within its boundaries, sometimes have slower response times to emergencies on the south side of Aiken.

Traffic at certain times of day can slow down ambulances, County Administrator Clay Killian said.

Where the 911 call comes from determines whether the ambulance is dispatched from the county's Richland Avenue station or from the location at Silver Bluff High School, he said.

"Anything south of Aiken depends on the time of day," he said.

The city is having the same trouble with fire calls. Mr. LeDuc said the city needed to place a fire station on the south side of Aiken to keep its fire rating low. The rating is used to set insurance rates for property owners.

"The closest station we have right now is on the opposite side of Woodside," Mr. LeDuc said.

The property for the new station is at Citadel Drive and Whiskey Road on the south side.

"Depending on the traffic in those areas, we could easily improve our response time by five minutes," Mr. LeDuc said.

Mr. Killian said this is one of two new EMS stations the county is planning. The other is planned for the northeast quadrant of Aiken County. Three other stations are also up for replacement, he said. Currently, workers operate out of mobile homes at three schools.

Adding two stations will bring the county's number of EMS facilities to 10.

Mr. Killian said they should also improve the average response time, which is 9 to 11 minutes.

Reach Sandi Martin at (803) 648-1395, ext. 111, or sandi.martin@augustachronicle.com.