FOLLANSBEE, W.Va. — Follansbee Fire Chief Larry Rea is excited to finally see the firehouse expansion project coming to fruition. Money to help the city in that effort is coming from the recently passed federal omnibus spending package.
"It's hard to put it into words; it means a lot,” Rea said.
The city plans to move forward with the planned expansion and upgrades after West Virginia U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito was able to secure $2.7 million in funding.
"We've really kind of outgrown it and it doesn't kind of fit the needs that we have,” Rea said. “This helps immensely with them getting the money for us."
With the city evolving, so did the fire department, with the potential of having to respond to more complex calls.
"It was no longer just one steel mill and a bunch of houses, now you get into chemicals and that changed the scope of what we had to protect and we naturally grew with that."
That means added equipment, which also changed over the years. The current station was built in 1957 with an addition put on in the 1980s.
"The trucks are heavier now days when this (station) was built,” Rea said. “Your average pumper weighed 16,000 or 17,000 pounds. Now, it's more in the 40,000-pound range."
Some of the expected additions include a decontamination room, more space modifying the existing station and using the empty lot to the south of the building. That area will house the larger pieces of equipment.
"Working closely with Mayor (Dave) Velegol, he has been behind this 1,000% from day one and it has taken a long time. But good things are worth waiting for."