Chelsea set to open new fire station

The city of Chelsea will soon have a third fire station.

Located off Shelby County 51 near the back entrance of Chelsea Park, the city had owned the building for a few years and was using it for storage. It was decided about a year and a half ago to make it the spot for a third fire station.

Initial bids came in too high and changes were made to meet the budget requirements.

Construction began in the spring of 2019, but due to various delays, completion has taken longer than anticipated.

Chief Wayne Shirley said the goal was to have it complete before the end of December and to begin staffing it in mid to late January.

“After they turn it over to us, we will have to move in all our stuff and get settled and ready to operate out of there. It will take us a few days to get functional,” Shirley said.

The existing space was modified to include office space to be used for staff. The upstairs will include four bedrooms, a kitchen and living space for the staff along with a laundry room. The new space will also feature a dedicated classroom that will be used for training and also available for local groups to use for meetings. With the living spaces located upstairs, a slide will be installed, instead of a traditional fireman’s pole. Downstairs will have six offices and a kitchen.

“The reason for the slide is that if we get an emergency call and the guys are upstairs asleep at 2 a.m., I don't want them running down a flight of stairs,” Shirley said. “It’s a lot greater risk of them getting injured using a pole, so I wanted the slide in place as a safer way to get downstairs in a timely manner during an emergency.”

One of the last items to be installed before completion was a generator. Shirley said as Alabama is entering its second severe weather season, he wanted the station to have a backup power source in the event of losing electricity.

Station 33 is designed to house five people 24 hours a day, which it will in the future as more staff is added. For now, the station will be staffed with two people who will run the fire truck and rescue transport unit.

It will cover most of Chelsea Park to the end of Shelby County 51 and split the area between there and the main station.

“As our call volume increases, and already has, we will have to add some more staff there to have assigned crews for engine and rescue,” Shirley said. “We have to grow proportionally with the city.”

What Shirley is most looking forward to by adding third station is reducing response time.

“Having a station in that area will drastically reduce our response time, as much as 6 to 8 minutes in some cases, which will allow us to get help to people sooner.”

The Chelsea Fire and Rescue Department has a coverage area of about 68 square miles. Shirley said the city will definitely need more stations in the future to keep up its level of service to the citizens.

Station 33 staff was brought on in August in order to get them trained, as the station was initially expected to be open in September.

Chelsea Fire Marshal Tommy King, who was promoted to captain in October, will be in charge of the station. King, Don Williamson, captain at Station 32, and Charlie Boyd, captain at Station 31, were all recently promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

“We promoted three station captains and six lieutenants to have a clear person in charge of all vehicles and stations,” Shirley said. “All three lieutenants had been doing the job of station captain, but we were in a position to make the promotions official.”