The River Road Volunteer Fire Department needs a new station.
But first, it needs to find somewhere to build it.
RRVFD Assistant Chief Mickey Rinehart said the building that houses the current station, at 1701 River Road, was already standing when the department purchased it in 1970. The department has since funded two additions, but over time the trucks have simply outgrown the available space.
“The problem we’re having is the vehicles we buy are just not able to fit in the garage. The building is old. We’re just trying to get in a more up-to-date building with room to get our trucks in and function as a fire department,” Rinehart said.
“When the pump went bad in our tanker, it took us a year and a half to find one that would actually fit in the garage we have now. … If we’re looking to buy something new and need it small so it can fit, that runs the cost up even more because now it’s considered a special-made item.”
He said the department would like to build a fairly bare-bones 60×65 metal building big enough to house the department’s vehicles, a couple offices and bathrooms, with enough room left over for storage and some future expansion.
The question is: Where?
Two options are being explored.
The department owns land behind the existing station, but there are concerns about whether that property is stable enough to build on.
“We had an engineering company come in and they did some core drilling and gave us recommendations as to what would need to be done if we were to construct this building,” Rinehart said. “We’re meeting with a company that is going to look at the property and see if it’s doable.”
In the meantime, the department is putting out feelers via social media and word of mouth that it’s looking for about two acres in the general vicinity of its current location.
While the station is not centrally located in terms of the department’s geographic coverage area, it is central to its members and most of the population it serves.
“We have had opportunities potentially for properties further out, but having members drive an additional 10 or 15 minutes to get to the station and then turn around and drive that 10 or 15 minutes back to the fire or whatever we’re dealing with, it just doesn’t make sense, and it doesn’t really serve the people,” Rinehart said. “Our response has been pretty good here.”
He said the department intends to finance the future construction, and potential move, by leveraging its portion of the recently renewed county fire levy as well as through traditional fundraising efforts.
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