Saturday, April 20, 2024
TOLAR — Thanks to a generous donor, the Tolar Volunteer Fire Department is building a second fire station, to be in the southern part of its 154-square-mile coverage area.
Assistant Fire Chief Ray Wilson said that firefighters being able to arrive on any scene quicker will save lives and likely result in a reduction in the cost of homeowners insurance.
Wilson said the location for the new station is near the intersection of Paluxy Highway and Prairie Creek Lane. He said the fire department purchased the land and that the $250,000 given by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous will go toward the building and infrastructure.
The money may not be enough to complete the building, but it should cover enough of the costs to enable the fire department to occupy it, Wilson said. Walls and sheetrock can be taken care of later.
Wilson said that a fellow firefighter has “stepped up” to serve as the general contractor and is working with various suppliers and vendors.
Tolar’s main fire station at 9005 W. U.S. Highway 377 has seven bays. The new fire station will have three bays.
According to Wilson, one of the department’s three brush trucks will be moved to the south station once it is built.
The VFD has purchased an engine with a 1,000-gallon water tank that will be kept at the south station, he explained, while a county-owned 2,000-gallon pumper tanker that the department uses as its “primary structural truck” will remain in town.
Wilson indicated that if there is a structural fire in the southern part of the coverage area, the smaller apparatus will provide “a good water supply” for battling the blaze until more help arrives.
On “the medical side,” Wilson noted that the department recently purchased a new Ford Expedition to use as a “rescue squad” for medical calls.
“Out of this new, three-bay station, we already have the apparatus and the fire trucks to respond to grass fires, controlled burns, smoke investigations, fires, fire alarms, you know, whether it be structure or commercial, or a medical call if somebody is hurt or sick,” the assistant fire chief stated.
Wilson, who was hired by the Tolar City Council last week to serve as the town’s police chief, said that the Tolar VFD’s sprawling coverage area in the western and southern parts of the county is not the most populated service area among the county’s nine volunteer fire departments, but it is the largest.
“We go all the way to the Erath County line, we go all the way south to the Somervell County line, we go halfway up toward Lipan, so that’s a lot of ground to cover,” he said. “Right now, we only have the one station in town. For us to get down to the Paluxy area proper, down deep into Paluxy Highway before you get to Somervell County, it takes a while to get down there. This (new station) will shorten that response, which in my opinion is going to help save property, but also save lives.”
It may also save homeowners’ money. Wilson said he believes the second station will lead to a better rating by the Insurance Services Office, which determines rates for homeowners insurance.
Just as Tolar is growing, so, too, is its volunteer fire department. Wilson said that seven or eight volunteer firefighters joined the department over the past year, bringing its current membership to 38.
Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter for the Tolar VFD can call 254-835-4334 or email info@tolarvfd.org. Wilson said that potential members are welcome to attend the VFD’s business meetings at the main Tolar fire station. They are held at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month.
