JEFFERSONVILLE, Ga. — Twiggs County is building a new fire station they hope will lower homeowners' insurance rates and improve fire protection.
In 2019, a fire started from a stove in a home off Highway 80 in Jeffersonville. A 32-year-old woman died from smoke inhalation.
Twiggs County Fire Chief and EMA Director Jack Wood says they have four fire stations covering the entire county, and that's not enough.
He says, "That would've cut our response time from five minutes down to a two-minute response, or a three-minute response time. That could've made a difference. We don't know, but going forward, that's what we are trying to achieve."
The county started clearing the land to prepare for construction. The new station will be off Solomon Drive in Jeffersonville.
Wood said, "It's in the center of the town, we'll be able to push out in both directions."
According to Wood, more fire stations lower homeowner insurance costs because the department is more equipped to put out fires.
County administrator Kelvin Lewis says, "We realize that people's valuables are very important and we want to have protection for them, but we also want them to see that this community is where life gets better each day."
Right now, the county doesn't employ any full-time firefighters. Once the building is up, that will change.
"We've got some of the best volunteers in the country here. We're working toward getting more grant money, more funding in order to bring those full-time paid guys on here in order to give 24/7 coverage," says Wood.
The county plans to get the majority of the building up and running by the end of the year.
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