Residents of the Vista West subdivision want fire protection, and they want it now.

The subdivision, located west of Casper between Mills and the Casper/Natrona County International Airport, currently relies on the Natrona County Fire Protection District, but recent fires show they need their own district, residents said.

No fewer than a dozen such residents sat in during a Natrona County Commission work session on Tuesday in Casper.

Having met with the fire district board repeatedly over the last several years, residents said they are disappointed that nothing has come of the mill tax levy they've paid for nearly a decade, and a structure fire in the subdivision last week further sparked their interest in a fire station of their own.

"This is the second home in our vista that's burnt in the last few years," said Vista West homeowner Ron Kidder. "We've been 10 years paying for this district. And what we're asking is if the district doesn't have the money, somebody needs to step up and help us. But we can't afford to have our life savings and our homes and everything go up in fire while we sit there and wait. We can't do that. And this has reached from just talking to a critical situation where now we've witnessed two homes go up."

The fire began in a garage, and was called in almost immediately by a neighbor. Unfortunately, Kidder said, county fire was already dispatched on the east side of Casper. "So we're sitting there waiting for an engine," he said.

According to Clyde Young, Natrona County Fire District chief, a new station would cost about $500,000, and his department could afford to contribute approximately $150,000 to the project.

"$500,000 in terms of what we look at is not a heck of a lot of money," Commissioner Barb Peryam said of the obstacle. "We deal with $26 million courthouses and $10 million juvenile detention centers, so my gut feeling is we have to be able to put this one together."

But, Young said, even if the department comes up with enough money for a building, there's not enough personnel to staff an additional fire house. The new station would require three firefighters per shift, totalling nine firefighters in all, for a cost of about $500,000 per year to the district and, ultimately, to the county.

Commissioner-elect Ed Opella suggested that the people may need to pay an additional mill tax levy to fund the project if the county can't come up with the money. Commissioner Peryam, however, said she would never agree to an arrangement where people were taxed without first voting on the tax.

Housing additional firefighters and equipment at the airport is another possibility, Young said. Although the airport already houses its own fire equipment and personnel, "personality differences" have made it thus far impossible to work with the existing station as a solution to the Vista West problem.

Communication problems with the airport board are also an issue, Young said.

The commissioners agreed that they would help all parties involved to meet and better communicate. The commission appoints members of the airport board.

Le Ann Harwood, another Vista West homeowner, said all the people want for now is a schedule of some sort telling them when they could expect a station to be started.

"We should establish a timeline so we as homeowners can say, 'OK, something is being done,'" she said.

The commission, airport board, county fire district board, county fire chief and vista residents will meet at 5 p.m. on Dec. 18, in the commissioners' conference room in the county courthouse to further discuss possibilities and a timeline for the Vista West fire station. The public is welcome to attend.

Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0616 or megan.lee@trib.com