By Jesse Wood The Blowing Rock Fire Department sub-station at Aho Road is currently under construction and should be complete by this time next year. Had the future facility been permitted for occupancy while the Horton Fire was raging just about 2 to 3 miles away in the Sampson area, it certainly would have been utilized.
“It would have been the spot for an incident command post for that fire and we would have had an earlier jump on that fire,” Blowing Rock Fire Chief Kent Graham said. “Fortunately, Laurel Fork Baptist Church made their facility available for an incident command post. They were absolutely fantastic.”
Currently, Blowing Rock Fire Department operates its largest station on Valley Boulevard and Station 2 on U.S. 221. The facility under construction (Station 3), which has been planned since before the property was purchased in 2011, is located at 2409 Aho Road.
Station 3 will feature three bays and have room for an engine, tanker and a brush truck. Graham noted that down the road a medical support response vehicle could be stacked in a bay with a brush truck. The facility will also feature a bunkroom for manning during special situations and a community room for citizens in the Aho and Sampson areas.
Currently, Station 1 is nearly 5 miles away from the future Station 3 location.
Graham noted that the construction of Station 3 should bring all of the property within the Blowing Rock Fire District into a protected fire insurance classification, which will improve both response times and insurance premiums to that area of the fire district.
Blowing Rock Fire and Rescue is borrowing up to $1 million to build Station 3.