Stella VFD Adds Fifth Station
Stella Volunteer Fire Department added a fifth station in the past year, according to Chief Charlie Colvin.
Station Five is located in Boulder City in Newton County, he said. Construction of the station took about four months, but years of planning and saving money led up to it, he added. The new station has two trucks and covers the northwest area of the fire association. The entire association covers 135 square miles.
“It’s going to be our last station that we build,” Colvin said.
The fire association also had its ISO rating lowered this year, Colvin said. ISO ratings are based on how well-equipped fire departments are, proximity of residents to fire stations, and many other considerations. The better the score, the lower the ISO rating. Lower ISO ratings typically lead to lower payments on homeowner’s insurance. Stella was a 9 before and now has been lowered to a 7, Colvin said.
“To get that lowered, I’ve been working on that for
about five years now. It’s a good thing. It’ll hopefully save everybody a couple hundred dollars on insurance. We’re already working toward a 5 or 6.”
Funding is a big issue for the department, as only about 25 percent of residents pay their membership dues, Colvin said. Dues were up this year, he added.
“It costs so much to send people to training and to do everything else,” he said. There is a petition circulating to change to a tax district, he said. They need 125 signatures to get the issue on the April ballot.
“It would create a great revenue stream,” he said.
The department needs to update some of its trucks, he said. It has two newer models it acquired through federal grants, a 2009 and a 2007 model. The next newest truck is a 1982 model, and the oldest one is a 1964, he said.
“Our goal is to replace all the old stuff to get a better ISO rating, which saves money on insurance,” Colvin said.
The department’s bunker gear is out of date and needs to be replaced, but it costs $3,500 per person.
“With a budget of $35,000 a year, that’s impossible,” he said.
Stella Volunteer Fire Department got a new radio antenna in the past year and can now get a better broadcast on their radios. They are looking for $160,000 in federal grants for new radios, Colvin said.
Firefighter Kurt Williams said this year the department has responded to 153 calls, including everything from wrecks and structure fires to brush fires and water rescues.
The department is holding a haunted house fundraiser this fall. It will be Oct. 13-14, Oct. 20-21 and Oct. 27-28 at 21841 East Highway 76, Rocky Comfort, from 7:30 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $10, and all proceeds benefit the fire department. For more information, call 417-455-4785.