The new station in the Southwest Madison Fire District is moving forward.
During a February board meeting, the Madison County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of Scott Weeks’ recommendation to approve the site plan.
The new station should be completed by the end of this year. In January, the board awarded the project to Womack Construction in the amount of $1,626,000.
Womack Construction is the company also contracted for a new Gluckstadt fire station located on Yandell Road.
The Southwest Madison fire district already has a fire station located at the corner of North Livingston and Lake Cavalier roads.
“We plan on adding this station and using both,” Southwest Madison Fire District Manager Ben Hawthorne said. “The second station will be on the corner of Coker and Lake Cavalier roads.”
The reason for the station, according to Hawthorne, is that there is more development in that area than before.
“With the annexations of Ridgeland and Madison, the original station got to where it wasn’t centrally located. It’s almost to the Ridgeland city limits now. We need one centrally located that will house equipment and fire apparatus and be able to reach our district better with better response times.”
The current station is not equipped to house firefighters or provide living quarters for volunteer fighters working 24-hour shifts. However, once the new station is complete, both will be manned and ready to combat any fires in the area.
The whole district works on a volunteer basis, with 15 active members.
“We’re doing a push to try to actively recruit volunteers in preparation for the new station… We’ll take as many as we can get. It’s for anybody that’s interested. They don’t have to be in tip-top shape or know anything about fires — there are lots of jobs they can do.”
The estimated completion date for the new station is November or December of this year.
For anyone interested in volunteering, Hawthorne said the southwest fire district volunteer members meet every second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m., 141 Lake Cavalier Road.
“If they have any questions about volunteering, they can call me (601-529-7827).”
