The new fire station at Enterprise South may be a Christmas miracle for holiday travelers since it places a response team for wrecks and vehicle extrications in close proximity to some of the area’s most highly traveled roads.
“When we first put … Squad 5 in service … we thought ‘They’ll do a few calls. It won’t be a big deal,'” said Chattanooga Fire Chief Randy Parker. “In a few months they ran over 400 calls. It really surprised us. They had a lot of wrecks on the freeway and other stuff.”
The fact that the city’s fifth such squad of urban search and rescue-trained firefighters is stationed there is a fortunate coincidence, and less of a pre-planned placement, according to Parker.
“It just happened to be a good fit for us at the time,” he said, “because of all the construction going on Interstate 75 up toward Ooltewah.”
Its assistance came none too soon. Parker noted there’s been an increase in calls since the new squad was put into play.
Beforehand, the closest rescue team came from Brainerd Road.
“There obviously is a need for it,” he said.
While the new Station No. 7 does offer this “additional service,” it was constructed to primarily serve the new businesses locating at Enterprise South and the new residents which will move into the area because of them.
“Before, there wasn’t really anything to protect as far as firefighting, other than woods,” Parker said. “Once businesses and people started moving in we had to provide fire protection. It puts us in a good position to cover those [newly annexed and growth] areas. As the freeway ramp gets built it will give us better access to the Summit area, whereas now we kind of have to drive around.”
Although the station’s exact service parameters have yet to be determined, Parker said it protects parts of Highway 58, Bonny Oaks, Silverdale, East Brainerd and Tyner.
Fifteen more firefighters will join the station in late January or early February after completing the current training academy. A new ladder truck will also added once it is completely outfitted sometime after the first of the year, at which point the station’s exact district will be drawn.
“We won’t put all new people out there, obviously,” Parker said. “It will be a mix of people. We will be moving people around and we’ll be doing some promotions.”
Other nearby stations on Bonny Oaks, East Brainerd Road, Hickory Valley Road and Lee Highway, as well as the county’s Tri-Community fire station in Collegedale, offer assistance.