Along with building a second fire station, town of Signal Mountain officials are now looking at the possibility of hiring more firefighters as well.
At the Town Council's May 23 work session, Fire Chief Eric Mitchell went over the final draft of the fire station feasibility report compiled by Municipal Technical Advisory Service for the town. As expected, the report calls for a second fire station. (Read previous coverage at community.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/feb/12/signal-studying-2nd-fire-station.)
What wasn't expected is that it also recommends additional personnel to operate the second station.
Initially, officials thought the existing staff of 15 firefighters and two supervisors would be spread across the two fire stations once the second is built, said Mitchell. The study, however, recommends adding an engine company.
"The fire station feasibility study says we need another station with additional engine company and staffing," Mitchell said in a follow-up interview. "The study recommends just because of the community's growth and the size of buildings in the community, we need two staffed engines and a staffed ladder."
Currently, the Signal Mountain Fire Department has one fire engine, one older fire engine in reserve, and a ladder truck, he said.
Mitchell said the discussion on additional personnel as well as further plans for the second fire station should continue among council members in the future.
"We can start the conceptual design process [of the second fire station]," Town Manager Boyd Veal said at the work session. "I hear it takes a year to design a fire station. Right now what I think we need to do is the conceptual design with what we think is appropriate. Then we'll go to the architect and all of that."