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| Highway 58 VFD Opens Newest Fire Station HAMILTON COUNTY, TENN – On Tuesday, August 4, 2009 Highway 58 Volunteer Fire Department officially opened its newest fire station, Station 5, at the corner of Cooley Road and Birchwood Pike in the Ware Branch area. The station will be staffed by ten volunteers and will have six pieces of apparatus assigned to it. The station was built with money from Hamilton County Bond Issues and is located on property donated by the family of the late Dr. Charles Byles, a long time Hamilton County veterinarian. It is 5600 square feet with two drive through bays and sleeping quarters for the firefighters. Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey, who was on hand for the celebration, says dedicating a building like this is one of the better parts of his job. “Every day that government works to make peoples lives better is a good day. This is a very good day. Building fire halls, schools and bringing industry and jobs to the community is a great reward because we are improving people’s lives. I appreciate the dedication of every volunteer firefighter and their commitment to our community. Fire Chief C.R. “Dude” Harris is very happy to have the new fire hall and said that response times to surrounding locations will be so much better now. Some locations new the new fire hall had response times around 8 to 10 minutes before. Chief Harris says that the new response time will be in the neighborhood of two to three minutes now. Chief Harris also said, “this quicker response time is vital in our effort to save lives and homes.” Hamilton County Commissioner Bill Hullander championed the effort to build this new fire hall. Commissioner Hullander says, “Insurance was being cancelled and the rates were going up in the area, so six years ago we started looking at this to help the people who were losing their insurance. We are delighted to be here dedicating this fire hall.” According to Amy Maxwell, the Public Information Officer for Hamilton County Emergency Services, the Highway 58 Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1974. There are currently 65 volunteer firefighters serving in the department. |
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