Year in Preview: Fire departments eye land for new stations

At least two fire departments in north Shelby County along U.S. 280 are looking for land for new fire stations.

The city of Chelsea has two new fire stations in mind, and the Cahaba Valley Fire and Emergency Medical Rescue District also has been looking for land for a new station.

Chelsea officials set aside $50,000 in the city’s fiscal 2016 budget to buy land for a new fire station, but construction will not take place in fiscal 2016, fire Chief Wayne Shirley said.

“You’ve got to get the dirt first,” Shirley said.

Chelsea also has land for another fire station near the Chelsea Sports Complex, which is set to open off Shelby County 11 this spring. But construction of a fire station at that location will not take place this year either, Shirley said.

Plans for future stations have been on the drawing board for a few months, but when those will be built is a matter of timing and funding.

“As the community continues to grow, our department will grow with it,” Shirley said. “We’ve already got two stations … and we have on the drawing board … two more stations that will be coming as soon as the timing and funding are in place.”

Cahaba Valley fire officials have been scouting land for a new station in the Dunnavant Valley area.

- Sydney Cromwell contributed to this article.