The new Flemingsburg Fire Station was dedicated Friday.
The $1.1 million fire station will be called the Byron Henderson Memorial Fire Station in honor of two former fire chiefs who served at the Flemingsburg Fire Department , according to Mayor Marty Voiers.
The new building sits on the Kentucky 32 bypass across from the U.S. Department of Agriculture building.
Voiers began the dedication ceremony by talking about how important the fire department is to him.
"I've been involved with fire departments for as long as I can remember," he said. "When I was growing up, we lived two doors down from the fire department in Tollesboro. My father was a volunteer firefighter."
Voiers said he joined the Tollesboro Volunteer Fire Department in 1969, as a senior in high school. In 1977, he transferred to Flemingsburg.
"They had this fantastic, huge fire hall downtown. The bay was wide enough that we had three trucks parked in there. You couldn't pull all of them out all the time because of the way construction was done. And, of course, over time, we got more trucks and and more equipment and it just became a place we outgrew. It was a great facility when it opened in 1969, but things changed, equipment got bigger and the new trucks were considerably larger than the older ones. It got to the point that you would have to turn sideways to walk between the trucks that were parked in there, there was no meeting room to speak of. We looked forward to the day when we could open this new facility and I am proud to say we have come to that point."
Flemingsburg Fire Chief Jerry McCloud also spoke about his appreciation for building a new fire hall.
McCloud has served on the department since 1975, when he began as a firefighter. He has been the chief of the department for 19 years, according to Voiers.
"He's been responsible and he has made a lot of changes since he began here," Voiers said.
Under McCloud's leadership, education has been pushed to the forefront and 86 percent of Flemingsburg firefighters are certified with 150 hours of training and 67 percent of the firefighters are certified with 400 hours, Voiers said.
"You don't know how much this fire house means to the guys," McCloud said. "To the guys, this is their second home. They take a lot of pride in it and so do I. You come back here in 10 years and this building is going to look like it does now. It won't be run down or trashed. We're going to take care of it."
During the dedication, State Rep. Mike Denham also expressed his gratitude that Flemingsburg has a new fire station.
"This is something that means a lot to me, too," he said. "My best friend's dad was a volunteer firefighter. I was with my friend when he received the news that his dad had died in a fire. I know that you put your life on the line every time you go out on a call. We really appreciate you for that."
According to McCloud, the land was purchased several years ago with the intent of one day constructing a new fire hall.
The building itself was funded through a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $500,000, a Rural Development loan for $315,000, a $300,000 grant from the ARC and $60,000 from the city of Flemingsburg.
The fire station is approximately 8,000 square feet and includes four bays, which can hold seven or eight vehicles.
There are also two offices, a meeting room, utility room, restrooms, storage, a decontamination area, and areas for firefighters to store equipment.
There are currently 23 volunteer firefighters with the department, according to McCloud.
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