News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Celina’s East 52nd Fire Department is working with attorneys to avoid being evicted from its facility after receiving an eviction notice in December.
Fire Chief James King said the owner of the land found a loophole in the department’s lease agreement. He said he does not understand what the landlord stands to gain by evicting the fire department.
“We’d hate to lose the department,” King said. “Especially, we’re there for the community and there for the citizens, you know. If we can find a piece of property maybe, you know, there’s not a whole lot of property around us for sale that would be useful, I guess you would say, for a fire station.”
If the eviction attempt is successful, King said he hopes to find a way to keep the department alive somewhere new. He said he hopes to keep the station running over the next several months during the legal battle.
This weekend’s annual catfish fry fundraiser Saturday night at Horse Creek Marina will be used to help offset attorney fees, as much as provide fire protection.
“We catch all the fish that we serve,” King said. “Everything’s fresh caught. We serve hushpuppies, french fries. It’s kind of like a potluck. Everybody throws in with it.”
He said the department is a valuable part of the Celina community. He said aside from having some 30 dedicated volunteers and an ISO rating of 5, the department has the only two fire boats on Dale Hollow Lake. He said finding land and funding to build a new station would be the greatest challenges if the department is forced to move.
“If not, we have nowhere really to put our trucks,” King said. “We’ve reached out to other departments and they’re willing to house our trucks temporarily until we can get things, you know, figured out.”
He said purchasing the land that the department sits on or reaching an agreement with the landlord are the two most promising possibilities a this point.
