The new facility will provide a lot more room to store equipment and supplies. It features multiple individual living quarters to accommodate male and female firefighters.  

The new building also has a training tower which can be used for all kinds of training exercises.

“Its designed for what we do. It’s designed and laid out exactly how the firefighters wanted it laid out. That’s how this project started,” said Chief Steve Panger.

Battalion Chief Howard Huber has spent nearly 15 years with the fire department.

 

The station was closed by the district in 2018 due to fiscal distress.  

In May of this year, voters passed a special fire tax to improve district funding -- which included reopening the closed fire station.

The yellow Safe Place sticker is now in the windows of 60 fire trucks and ambulances in the county.  

"If we're in a park doing a public event and kid comes up, and they happen to see that and know they can go seek some assistance,” said Clay Fire Marshal Dave Cherrone.

Once a child approaches an emergency vehicle, the first responder will contact dispatch who will then take the vehicle out of service so that the child can get help. The first responder will then contact YSB who will send someone out to the child to provide help.

A fatal wreck occurred in the process of officials responding to the shed fire at the home on Morris Stevens Road -- killing 55-year-old Michael Snider, who Sheriff Reece says was an acquaintance of the injured woman. Deputies are not releasing the identity of the woman at this time. However, they did say she is at the hospital and is expected to survive. Deputies say they found her injured a few hours after the fatal wreck after knocking on the home's door (she stayed out of sight as crews fought the shed fire). Snider died when his work truck collided head-on with a Jones County fire truck on Hwy. 49 as it was responding to the fire scene. Deputies initially thought Snider hit the fire truck as he was driving to the fire at his home, but now Sheriff Reece says he may have been fleeing the scene.