New station rises in Autryville

April 05--AUTRYVILLE -- If plans stay on track, Fire Chief Andrew Hawkins is looking forward to celebrating the opening of a new station with the public in the summer.

At the of 2017, firefighters looked at a flat dirt surface before concrete was poured, laid and set. The last station was destroyed after a tornado struck on the evening of Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Firefighters are using a temporary trailer and carport for operations.

Now, they're looking at a roof being placed on top of their future building.

"Once the roof is on, that's going to be our biggest milestone," Hawkins said about construction. "We'll have a roof over our heads and minor things such as rain is not going to stop us as much because the building is covered."

When it comes to moving in, Hawkins said the goal is mid-July with August being a worst-case scenario. The original plan was May around the one-year anniversary of the tornado, but it was delayed due to weather, permits and other matters.

"That was our objective, but I think we hit it closer than what I thought," he said about challenges such as waiting for approvals.

A lot of the patience involved what Hawkins described as the "waiting game" when it came to permits, groundwork for the dirt and concrete.

"It seemed like it took so long to get to a point where there was a structure," he said. "Now, it feels like we won the lottery. Every single day, there's a little bit more change. We're starting to see that progress and that's uplifting to the guys and the community as well."

Construction is being handled by Fayetteville Metal Building Systems. Hawkins said the building will look larger, but will only be about 100 square feet bigger with an additional bay to park six vehicles.

The estimated cost for the station is between $800,000 and $850,000. From an insurance standpoint, the overall damage was $1.4 million to replace vehicles, the station and equipment.

Since the May 2017 incident, the Autryville Fire Department received support from various organizations in the community. Some of the efforts have included a bake sales, softball tournament and a special day at a McDonald's in Benson. For operations, the department received help with vehicles and equipment from other agencies in and out of Sampson County. Some of them included the Boiling Springs, Va., Cary and Creedmoor fire departments.

The department plans to announce a grand opening in the upcoming months with community members, fellow first responders and volunteers who showed support or sent donations.

"As we get closer and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, our goal is to have everyone that was involved in any way," Hawkins said.

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