Stephens Co. Cuts Ribbon On Two New Fire Buildings
Stephens County shows off two of its new fire station buildings.
The county held two ribbon cuttings on Saturday, one for each of its newest fire station buildings.
One of the new buildings is on North Holcomb Drive in the Martin area, while the other new fire station building is in the northern end of the county on Black Mountain Road.
Stephens County Volunteer Fire Coordinator Jamey Gettys said the new station buildings should help citizens in those communities in a couple of different ways.
“Number one is we are hoping to lower people’s homeowners’ insurance rates,” said Gettys. “Number two is provide protection for places that before would have taken us a lot longer to get to, we are now a lot closer to these homes that would need assistance, so that we could hopefully get there a lot quicker.”
Stephens County used SPLOST VI money to build these stations, along with another new station going in on Red Bluff Road that is nearing completion.
County Commission Chairman Dennis Bell said he is excited about the new stations and the opportunity to both serve the public better and lower people’s homeowners’ insurance ratings in these particular communities through a lower ISO rating.
Bell said this also gives the county a good chance to recognize the volunteer fire fighters who serve Stephens County.
“The volunteers in the county, if people see them out and they are out fundraising, please help them, and if they do not do anything else, go up and shake their hand and pat them on the back and tell them ‘good job’,” said Bell. “They do an excellent job for our county and I will stand behind them 100 percent. I have been doing it and I continue to do it.”
Fire Department officials receive the certificate of occupancy for the North Holcomb fire station from County Commission Chair Dennis Bell
While the stations are built and the fire departments are moving in trucks and equipment, they are not fully in service yet.
Gettys said the county must now wait on the state to sign off.
“Although it looks like we are officially open, we need to wait for the paperwork to come back from the state,” said Gettys. “That could take a couple of months, but we are hoping that maybe it will be a couple weeks.”
Gettys said he would notify the public through the media when the state signs off.
Bell said that as soon as the state signs off and the stations are officially in service, people in these areas with new stations will have to call their insurance companies and let them know so as to obtain the lower insurance rates that come with a closer fire station.