News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Dekalb County will open a new fire station in Liberty Wednesday, hoping to cut down response time on the western end of the county.
Dekalb County Fire Chief Donny Green said the new district station will be a futuristic approach to providing equipment support to areas lacking emergency resources. The station will accommodate a fire engine, a water tanker, and a brush truck.
“That will assist them in us responding there quickly and also getting an ambulance down there to that end of the county,” Green said. “It’s about a 20-minute response time from Smithville to Alexandria, so we’re talking about cutting that response time down at least half in getting medical response down there.”
Green said that he expects the station to be online on Wednesday, supplying emergency resources to towns like Liberty and Alexandria. Green said there are also plans to house an ambulance at the station to provide EMS coverage.
An EMS crew would be available 12 hours per day. Green said all of Dekalb County’s ambulances are currently housed in Smithville.
“Dekalb County, as you know, is a very large county,” said Green. “We’re just trying to get some resources and some better distribution to that end of the county.”
Green said the cities of Liberty and Dowelltown are joint owners of the property and offered the site-development plan to the County on a 99-year free lease for the station. Green said no new vehicles will have to be purchased.
The project is being funded by money from the American Rescue Plan Act that the county appropriated. A final walk-through was conducted on Friday. The Department is also planning an open house to open the station to the public in mid-November.
