WHAT’S GOING ON: Boiling Springs Fire District Dedicates New Station. Already Saving Lives
This morning at 8:00 a.m., only days removed from a hairline Greenville County Council vote, the Boiling Springs Fire District dedicated the property at 208 Blacks Drive in Greenville County as its newest fire station.
The debate over the station began in May of this year when county council voted against the district’s request for a 0.7 mil adjustment in its revenue stream. Chief Steve Graham, then presenting the district’s most recent survey from the Insurance Services Office (ISO) to council’s Committee of the Whole, told council members that district representatives would soon be back and seeking council support for a general obligation bond to construct two new stations as required by the ISO report.
ISO was invited to address County Council, but because the meeting could not be closed, and media not excluded, representatives were prohibited from speaking.
The fire department rating report ISO provides to insurance companies is one of the major factors used in setting premiums on commercial and residential property. Using a classification system ranging from 1 (superior fire protection) to 10 (not meeting minimum requirements), Boiling Springs’ current ranking is a Class 1 — one of only 44 departments nationwide to carry that rating. Without meeting ISO’s requirements, Boiling Springs would have seen its rating drop to a Class 3, which would have increased premiums as much as $30 per year on each $100,000 of assessed value.
Boiling Springs Fire District officials began searching for two properties with locations acceptable to meet ISO’s requirements when they located a former church in the process of relocating. The site of the former Vineyard Church was, according to ISO, suitable enough in location that if the district could locate there, it would eliminate the need for the second station.
Working with several members of county council, BSFD officials began courting support for a $2 million general obligation bond that would pay for the purchase of the Vineyard Church property, renovation of the existing structure to convert it in to a fire station, and purchase of the equipment for the station. District officials said this was preferable to requesting a $5-$6 million bond to purchase two sites and develop them from the ground up.
After a number of hurdles, last Tuesday night, county council voted its required 2/3 majority to issue the bond. The bond will cost property owners less than $5 per year for each $100,000 of assessed value.
Wednesday morning, Boiling Springs personnel began preparing the site for operation. During the day, they received a call regarding a resident of nearby Rolling Green Circle who was unable to breathe. Responding from the site of the soon-to-be new station, emergency personnel arrived on scene in 47 seconds and had the patient on oxygen and stabilized for EMS crews in just over a minute.
Response from the district’s next closest station on Pelham Road would have been between 3 and 4 minutes, according to officials.
This morning, while Chaplain Gary Rogers offered a blessing over the new station and the firefighters who will call it home, another call came in — this time for an automobile accident — and Engine 8 rolled out of its new base.
