Brian Anderson hopes Clay County's next fire station will last half a century, just like its predecessor. That's the goal as Anderson, Clay County fire and rescue chief, looks toward building a new station on Highway 64 Business, across from State Employees' Credit Union, by 2025 at the latest.
The new facility will replace the current one, approaching 50 years old itself by Anderson's estimation, which is located at 30 May Street near Hayesville First United Methodist Church. The new station is being planned with a number of improvements in mind, ranging from a location with easier access to all parts of the county, sleeping quarters for staff on 24-hour shifts, a dedicated decontamination room and future-proofing for the expected growth of the county.
"The biggest thing is we want this building to be the fire station for the next 50 years," Anderson said. "We want to make sure we take our time and we're not rushing and regretting a year later that we should have done something different." Battalion Chief Pete Trocchia estimates the department's call volume has almost doubled within the past five years. The station keeps one staff member on duty as part of a 24-hour shift, but the facility lacks dedicated sleeping quarters.
The new facility could provide sleeping quarters for up to 10-12 people, which could be valuable in emergency situations. "We want the community to be proud," Trocchia said. "We're guesstimating that we're going to see growth in this area and we want the fire department to reflect growth. With the roadwork on Highways 175 and 69, we think we're going to see substantial growth to this area when that's completed and we're trying to get ahead of that."
Anderson said the department has been looking at the prospect of a new facility over the last four or five years. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance of the department upgrading beyond their current makeshift decontamination area. "It's a specific little area where someone can come off of a call and go to an isolated room where they can decon their gear, decon themselves before they enter back into the living quarters so they don't contaminate anything else," Anderson said. "If we run a med call and we think there's an exposure or something like that, that's one big side of it to make sure it stays in that room and we contain it. That's honestly one of the most common things we use it for — prevention of cases on the medical side."
Access is yet another issue on Andersons’ mind. Beyond present concerns, the future addition of a roundabout will affect traffic in the area. "We're afraid the new roundabout that's coming in — the one that's going by the old B & T Marina and Truett Baptist Church — is going to cause some issues for us," Anderson said. "The street where we're currently at is kind of tight, especially when we go over this little hill towards Nocturnal Brewing. Visibility is kind of an issue, too."
Anderson said the property has already been purchased and the department has met with an engineer, but he does not yet have an estimate of how much the building itself will cost. He said grant funding will be key. "We're hoping to be able to start the grade work within the next year and get the building started in the next two years," Anderson said. "The biggest hurdle we're facing right now is getting the funding for it because it's not a cheap venture that we have the budget to start on tomorrow. We're going to have to apply for a lot of grants."