Savannah City Council approves funds for new fire station in the Highlands

ByMeredith Parker|September 26, 2019 at 6:51 PM EDT - Updated September 26 at 10:13 PM

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Savannah City Council approved $3 million to build a brick and mortar fire station in the Savannah Highlands area.

The city of Savannah says this is the fastest growing spot in the city.

The area does already have a fire station, but it's essentially a trailer. According to the assistant chief, that module has run its course. It's been out there since 2008.

Savannah Fire Rescue and city council agreed it's time for a real building to back up the department’s presence in the Highlands.

It'll cost the city $3 million to build and it'll look identical to Sweet Water Station 15, which was completed last year.

"Their tax dollars support this service. They have lower insurance rates because of that, so they deserve a proper and permanent fire station in the Highlands and that’s what they are going to get,” Savannah’s Chief Operating Officer Bret Bell said.

Savannah Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Curtis Wallace says this new facility will up their operations

"If they have an issue where they need to reserve or back-up equipment, we have to ship that out to them. Having a facility that allows them to manage a full complement of equipment, machines, and apparatuses, will allow them to more readily transition for that 24-hour response,” Wallace said.

The city says establishing more of a permanent public safety presence in the Highlands is a priority.

"We’ve been trying to move the Highlands into the Savannah family. That’s been everything from having more meetings out there, working with them to develop a neighborhood association and changing their zip code so it doesn’t say they are in Pooler anymore,” Bell said.

Savannah Fire Rescue says construction could start by the end of this year and only take one year to build. It will be located at the current location of the modular station.

This won’t necessarily change their response or how big that response is. The same crews will work there. It’ll just give more space and efficiency for their equipment.

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