New fire stations in WA budget

Almost $30 million will be allocated in the West Australian budget for new fire stations.

Emergency services minister Joe Francis announced on Sunday that a new fire station would be built to the west of the Perth CBD, where an extra 15,000 residential dwellings are expected to be built over the next 10 years.

That would double the population in the area, Mr Francis said.

A site for the $21.3 million station is being evaluated.

The WA government also said it would spend $9.1 million replacing the 75-year-old Albany fire station to help speed up response times to house fires and road crash emergencies.

Both are due to open in 2016/17.

The state budget will be handed down on May 8 and is expected to be the Barnett government's toughest yet as it strives to reduce debt and restore WA's previous AAA credit rating.