Priceville leaders: New fire station will protect growing town

Jun. 18—PRICEVILLE — A fire station that opened this week on North Bethel Road will help protect residents and homes in the northern part of the growing town, Priceville leaders said.

The 3,700-square-foot, $962,000 fire station No. 3 will be used by the town's volunteer firefighters and is located next to Priceville High.

Mayor Sam Heflin said during a dedication ceremony for the station attended by town and county officials that Priceville will need the new station as its population continues to increase rapidly.

"We're expecting the latest census to show we have grown about 1,500 residents from the 2010 census, and we see the subdivisions sprouting up," he said.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Priceville had a population of 3,794 in 2019, an increase of 1,136 people, or 42.7%, since 2010 when 2,658 residents were recorded. Census data for 2020 municipal populations will be released later this year.

Heflin said subdivisions under construction in the town have about 400 new homes in their plans.

The half-acre property the fire station sits on belongs to the Morgan County Board of Education, which has given Priceville a 99-year lease for $1 a year, Heflin said. The town made the last payment on the station construction this month and has $26,000 budgeted for appliances for the kitchen, beds for the bunk room and furniture for the meeting room.

Charles Black, Priceville's full-time fire chief, said the new station will decrease the town's Insurance Services Office or ISO rating and decrease homeowners' fire insurance premiums. According to the town's website, the town has a 4-rating in town, and outlying areas have a 5.

"We'll have greater needs in this part of town with the homes in the process of being built," he said. "Most are our calls are medical calls (about 86%)," he said. "The other 14% are fire related."

Black said his department is thankful the city provided a large station that includes two engine bays and a large meeting room. "They took an aggressive approach to getting us this fire station built," he said.

Former Mayor Melvin Duran said discussions about a new fire station in the northern portion of town began in earnest four years ago and groundbreaking took place in 2020. The light brick structure matches the color of the nearby high school.

"When COVID arrived in the spring of 2020, we became very conservative with our spending and people stayed at home shopping, and our (tax) revenue grew," he said. "(The pandemic) actually helped small towns across the county. It's wonderful to think this station is paid for."

District 2 County Commissioner Randy Vest called the new fire station "very beneficial and needed to this part of the county."

Black said with the anticipated growth of Priceville, the town will need another station about three miles east of the new station in five to 10 years.

Black said the volunteer fire department has stations at New Center Road near the town's library and on South Bethel Road. They are two and five miles away from the new station respectively.

"In 2018, we bought a truck for $406,000 through our volunteer funds," he said.

He added there's always a need for more volunteer firefighters.

"We have about 20 active volunteers," he said. "We'd love to have 35 or 40 who are active."

He said he anticipates that as new residents move to town more residents will join the force.

— mike.wetzel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. Twitter @DD_Wetzel.