November 12, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
Now Open!
A grand opening and ribbon cutting were held Saturday to commemorate the opening of the new Liberty Fire Hall. County Mayor Matt Adcock along with Liberty Mayor Audrey Martin and Dowelltown Mayor Pam Redmon cut the ribbon accompanied by State Representative Michael Hale, several county commissioners, other Liberty and Dowelltown city leaders, county officials, DeKalb EMS staff, members of the DeKalb County Fire Department including the Liberty Station and other emergency services. Woodmen of the World donated a flag and flagpole to the new station, and Woodman representative Tim Bumbalough led a ceremony in raising this flag for the first time.
Described by County Fire Chief Donny Green as a district station, the fire hall sits on an 8.65 acre site in the city limits of Liberty owned jointly by the towns of Liberty and Dowelltown and once used as a recreation park off Highway 70 on West Main Street. Leaders of both towns earlier this year entered into a 99-year lease agreement with the county to use this property for the fire hall which is 55’ x 60’ in size and has bays to house a fire truck, 2,500-gallon tanker truck, a 4-wheel drive brush truck, and an ambulance. A helipad will also allow for the landing of medical helicopters when needed.
The county allocated $382,912 in American Rescue Plan Act funding for the construction and Tim Pedigo of Pedigo Construction was awarded the bid to build it. The new fire hall is expected to improve firefighting and EMS services in the western portion of the county. Under the plan the current Liberty Fire Hall located in downtown Liberty is being replaced by this new fire station.
“I want to say thank you to County Mayor Matt Adcock and the County Commission for the work in making this come to pass and also to County Fire Chief Donny Green for the vision of seeing something greater for the western end of the county,” said State Representative Hale. “This is huge, not just for Liberty and Dowelltown, but for the entire western part of the county. I look forward to seeing the services that will be expanded out of this,” he said.
“Right now, we are working with the US Army Corps of Engineers trying to get another public safety building near Center Hill Dam. That is something we are continuing to work on. Meanwhile a new $10 million grant process was started on November 1 in the General Assembly that will be huge for equipment across the state. DeKalb County received some equipment money from it last spring. These are things that make DeKalb County a better place to live, work, and raise a family and that’s what we want. We want the very best for our people and we are thankful to have this facility,” said State Representative Hale.
“We officially began operating out of this station on November 1. The engine has been here, and we have been responding to calls out of this station for a little over a week now. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has been involved in this project from start to finish,” said Chief Green.
According to Chief Green, the total project was 94% grant funded with only 6% in local funds required by the county.
“The project and all the equipment located at this station has a value of about $976,000 and that does not include the land which was not purchased but leased by the county. Of that $976,000, $63,050 was the only amount that was used from local taxpayer funds. The rest of that, $912, 950 was funded by grants so this project cost DeKalb County about 6% to put down here while 94% of it was funded by state or federal grants. I would say that we made a good investment not just for today but for many years to come,” said Chief Green.
“I don’t want the community to look at this as just the Liberty Fire Station or the Dowelltown Fire Station or even a fire station. I want this to be your public safety building. If people are here and we have the doors open, we want the community to stop in and visit. We want you to know who we are and what we do. That’s important to have those relationships. EMS will also be here as a satellite station. We have also opened the doors to the sheriff’s department if deputies are out and about and need to stop in because we want this to be a public safety building for use by everyone,” Chief Green continued.
“Outside of your faith in God there is probably nothing more important than your investment in public safety. I’m not just talking about the fire department, EMS, Sheriff’s Department, or Rescue Squad by itself but the whole concept of public safety. If you don’t have a safe community, nothing else is going to thrive. You’re economy or anything else. I want to thank the community for supporting leaders that value public safety. I really believe this project is a step in that direction. We still have a vision moving forward to do greater things in serving our communities in providing better public safety”.
“This is our first model station that we want to have in every district. We have three fire districts in DeKalb County. This is the western part. We also have the more middle part and then the southeast part. Our vision eventually, not next week or next year, but maybe one day is to have one of these stations like this that we can refer to as a district station in every district of the county. We currently have 12 stations and are looking to build the 13th station at Wolf Creek, but we would like to have one of these district support stations with a tanker, brush truck, fire engine, and maybe even an EMS station if it can be justified in each of those three fire districts. DeKalb County’s population is growing and with growth comes more needs and services that have to be provided,” said Chief Green.