County plans 2 new fire stations

Sept. 08--Maury County will begin seeking locations for two new volunteer fire stations in Hampshire and the Carter's Creek area.

The county's building committee assigned Commission Chairman Michael Fulbright, Mayor Charlie Norman and Fire Chief Eric Hileman to form a special committee to begin the search for the potential sites.

"We went through the strategic planning process and these are two areas, as far as the safety concerns of the county, we wanted to focus on first," Fulbright said. "We want to bolster those areas and make sure we give them adequate fire coverage and give the people what they need."

The two stations would decrease the response time to any fires or emergency situations in the two areas, cutting down volunteer response distances.

Maury County Mayor Charlie Norman said a new station in Hampshire would replace a smaller, less localized location.

Fulbright said the increasing number of homes in the Carter's Creek region have made it a top priority for a new fire station.

Due to growing population in the Carter's Creek area, funds from the county adequate facility tax will could be used to build the region's new station.

A retired firefighter, Norman said the search process will take several weeks to make sure the new stations will overlap within a five mile radius with other neighboring stations to ensure the county's citizens continue to see a discount on their home insurance.

He said anywhere beyond that point the possibility of a timely response and and an ability to save property greatly diminishes.

"If your our beyond that point you are just to far away," Norman said.

The commission also discussed the possibly of students from Maury County Public Schools to participate in the construction of both facilities.

Last month, the Maury County Fire Department opened its latest fire station on Lasea Road near the intersection of Bear Creek Pike and I-95.

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