Fire protection to spread in Valley Grande
Published 11:26 pm Monday, August 18, 2008
There are still some areas of Valley Grande that don’t have coverage from a reasonably close fire station, but that will change soon.
That was the announcement made at the Valley Grande City Council meeting Monday night.
The city will put out bids within the next two weeks for Summerfield Fire Department No. 2, a new station located near the Valley Grande Golf Course.
“We’ve been talking about it for about a year,” said Valley Grande Public Safety Director Boyd Pugh. “We had to find a lot. Once we found a lot in that area, we were in good shape.”
Pugh said the new Summerfield Department will run on a volunteer basis.
The station will sit on an about an acre of land and have a similar design to the Valley Grande Public Safety Building — a brick faade building connected to a two-door firehouse.
An area of Valley Grande that includes a portion of Warrior Drive and Ocmulgee Estates currently don’t have a fire station within a five-mile radius. That prompted a need for the new structure.
“That’s a structure that’s long overdue,” Valley Grande Mayor Tom Lee said. “The reason for the structure is the same as the Overlook Hills problem. There were structures in the Overlook Hills subdivision, which is in our corporate limits, that were not covered within a five-mile radius.”
Summerfield Volunteer Fire Department will keep records for the new station. Summerfield and Potter Station will also donate equipment.
Lee said the Alabama Highway Department is building a temporary drive, which the city will later replace with a permanent one.
Completion of construction for Summerfield Station No. 2 is expected by the end of the year.