Richard Taylor, left. area coordinator for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, gives a presentation regarding Bradley County’s first fire chief, Emary Bryant, during a dedication ceremony at the Hopewell fire station on Friday. Engine 13, which serves at the station, bears Bryant’s name. Interim Fire Chief Troy Spence, on the right, said Bryant’s efforts in the 1960s and 1970s provided the foundation for today’s Bradley County Fire & Rescue, which now has 13 stations.CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Three new Bradley County Fire & Rescue stations will go into service at 8 a.m. Monday, officials announced Friday at a grand opening ceremony at the Hopewell station.
“When you take the buildings that have been built, the equipment that has been purchased and the training that’s gone on, we’ve done everything we can to be as ready as we possibly can be,” Bradley County Mayor D. Gary Davis said.
The new fire stations — at Minnis Road, Dalton Pike and Georgetown Road — will assume service for fringe areas just outside Cleveland city limits that now are protected by the Cleveland Fire Department under an agreement between the county and city.
To bring the new stations up to operational status, six firefighting vehicles were purchased and 41 firefighters hired by Bradley County Fire & Rescue, officials said. The cost of the new stations and their complements of vehicles amounted to a $3 million investment for the county. The base salary for a full-time firefighter is $24,000.
The county paid $1.8 million annually for Cleveland fire protection services for the fringe areas, except for the last year of service, which has been estimated to cost between $1 million and $1.2 million.