Eufaula Fire Department Getting New Fire Station Thanks To Grants

The Eufaula Fire Department is getting a new station thanks to a grant and American Rescue Plan money.

The Eufaula Fire Chief says the current fire station used to be an old grocery store and that they built the meeting offices from scratch, so this new station is coming at the right time.

This new station will have more room to park the trucks, along with larger office and training areas.

The money will be coming from American Rescue Plan Act and also from a $100,000 grant via The Rural Economic Action Plan.

Jeb Jones with the City of Eufaula says this type of grant money doesn't come often.

"A chance like this comes around every 10 or 20 years, so we want to make sure we take full advantage of it," Jones said.

Eufaula Fire Chief Clifford Shatswell says the current building is worn out and in need of serious upgrades.

"This place has flooded several times," Shatswell said. "We've had to redo our meeting room and my office here because we've had sewer back up in here. We've had flooding, all the air conditioners from the community center are in here, they leak in this spot."

Shatswell says the new station will help with recruiting.

He says the department has 21 volunteer firefighters and they're kept busy answering calls.

"We probably have 50 or 60 calls total for the year," Shatswell. "We're averaging anywhere from 20 to 25 to 30 calls a month now."

Shatswell says above all, this is going to help the citizens of Eufaula stay safer.

"It helps our community," Shatswell said. "It lets people know we are dedicated to trying to get Eufaula as a better place to come. We want folks to come here and live with us. We want people to come here and spend money with us."

Shatswell says if there are no setbacks, he is hoping to have the new fire station done sometime next spring.