HURRICANE, W.Va. — Those who drive Route 34 through Hurricane have probably noticed the final touches taking shape on the new Hurricane Fire Department.
The new building is located down the road from Hurricane Middle School and next to the city’s new football field. The new fire hall will provide a large area of operations for the locale fire department to function.
“This is a 100-year build. That’s why we built it like we did,” said Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards in a recent appearance on 580-Live on WCHS Radio.
The old fire hall is located along Main Street in downtown Hurricane. The current location is old and cramped. It’s also situated on property which originally belonged to CSX and not the city. Mayor Edwards said the time had come to relocate and upgrade the fire department facilities.
“Our current fire department has lasted about 50 years and it’s seen its better days for sure. We wanted to do something a little bit nicer,” he said.
The new facility features a large amount of outdoor pace for vehicle parking, training, or fire department activities. The facility includes multiple bays and a large interior for truck storage along with equipment needs. There is also a large space for community gatherings or fire fighter training. Also included in the design are living quarters for firefighters and administrative offices.
Edwards said the construction and design was done with an eye toward growth in the local community in the coming years. “The new Culloden interchange has started and that whole area in the next 10 to 15 years will be booming and we’ll be ready for it. Instead of building something we’ll need in the next ten years, we wanted to build something that will last a lot longer and give the community what is needed,” Edwards said.
A ribbon cutting on the new facility is set for January.