Recreation

Piedmont City Fire Department Is Almost as Good as New

Piedmont City Council meeting announces new construction plans for the Piedmont City fire station in Wayne County, Missouri, and includes comments from volunteer fireman and council member Alderman Scott Tucker.

 

Wayne County, MO -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/28/2012 -- In 2011, the Piedmont City Fire Department suffered a setback as a fire destroyed several rooms and vital equipment in the fire station. The fire department has been working to regain it's fire fighting capacity and will be helped immensely in this effort by the City Council's recent approval of $30,000 in expenses for building materials and supplies to construct four new rooms and storage area in the fire station. The Wayne County Journal-Banner reports the new rooms will replace previously used space in the station, but the new plans improve upon the previous layout and should make the space more useful to the fire department. The new rooms include two offices, a training room and a meeting room. Above the new rooms will be storage space for fire fighting and administrative supplies.

Piedmont City Council recognized the needs for rebuilding the damaged fire department, but at the same time expressed concerns about the small city's limited ability to provide funds for the project. Community members responded to this challenge by offering to volunteer their services for the labor portion of the new construction. Members of the local Methodist Church, the Piedmont City Fire Department, and the Clearwater Fire Protection District are stepping up to work on the construction project themselves, saving the city from having to hire private contractors. These efforts will go a long way in restoring the city's fire fighting readiness, without breaking the city council's budget.

Piedmont mayor Bill Kirkpatrick commissioned an architect to create plans for the new fire department rooms. The city then took these plans to Turnborough Building Supply to receive an estimate of the building material costs.

The blog post reporting on the city council meeting relates council member Alderman Scott Tucker's opinions on the new project. Tucker believes that the fire department will be in a better position following the upon completion of the construction then they were before the fire. Because the facilities will be new and the floorplan improved, Tucker says that the station will provide more service to the department.

Piedmont firemen are excited for the new construction, but reminded the city council members that they still need to replace life-saving equipment that was destroyed and lost in the fire. The department is currently seeking a grant to replace SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) that is used when entering burning buildings. There is no information yet on the status of the department's grant request.

Even though there is still a long way to go for the department to be fully restored, both fire department members and city council members are happy with the progress that has been made so far. Alderman Scott Tucker pointed out that Piedmont is a small city and the progress so far has been remarkable considering the city's resources.

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