How long should it take firefighters to arrive at the scene of an emergency? How long is too long?

How much are you willing to spend to cut response times?

These questions, and others, will be debated in Oak Harbor over the next year or two as Fire Chief Ray Merrill pushes a proposal to build a second fire station in the southwest section of the city, where response times are the longest and residential areas are growing.

Before that can happen, Oak Harbor City Council must approve the placement of a general-obligation bond, and possibly an accompanying maintenance-and-operation levy, on a ballot for voters to decide.

We encourage city officials to create a plan that is conservative and cost-effective but provides the west side of the city with the quick response times residents in other areas have long enjoyed.

In the world of firefighting and emergency responders, a response time of four minutes or less is the gold standard. The City Council set the Oak Harbor standard at a maximum of five minutes.

Average response times on the west side of the city are five minutes or longer.

It promises to worsen as more and more housing developments are built in that quadrant.

Council is right to move cautiously with any plans for a new fire station. Nobody is served if a measure bombs at the polls.

City residents aren’t in the mood to pay more in taxes, especially in light of ever-increasing sewage fees. There are also plenty of other entities competing for taxpayer dollars.

Public safety is something just about everyone understands and supports, however. We all want firefighters and emergency medical technicians to have the resources needed to save lives.

Officials should move forward with a plan for a second fire station and let voters decide in the next few years just how important public safety is to them.