Monroe County is trying to determine where to place the county fire station. The locations of the county’s four major towns are as follows: (10, 20), (60, 20), (40, 30), and (80, 60) (Figure 7.50). Town 1 averages 20 fires per year; town 2, 30 fires; town 3, 40 fires; and town 4, 25 fires. The county wants to build the fire station in a location that minimizes the average distance that a fire engine must travel to respond to a fire. Because most roads run in either an east-west or a north-south direction, the fire engine must do the same. For example, if the fire station is located at (30, 40) and a fire occurs at town 4, the fire engine has to travel |80 – 30| + | 60 + 40 | = 70 miles to the fire.

a. Determine where the fire station should be located.

b. Use SolverTable to see how the optimal location of the fire station changes as the number of fires at town 3 changes.