By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
The expansion project that will provide housing for firefighters and allow ambulances services to be based in Piedmont is nearing completion.
“The projected completion date is the end of October,” Fire Chief Andy Logan said Tuesday.
“According to the general contractor everything is right on schedule.”
The expansion project was approved last November to brace for the growth in Piedmont, one of the fastest growing cities in the state. The cost of the project is $457,000.
“We’ve been making do for the past eight years and this will allow us to have true living quarters and have more bay space for future (EMS) growth,” Logan said.
The expansion was also prompted by slow response times from the current emergency medical services company on medical calls. The average time for an EMSA ambulance to reach a caller is 20 minutes.
If the city chooses to house local ambulance providers at the fire department, it would improve the response times. The city council has not decided yet whether it will hire EMS staff for in-house services or if it will contract with a provider.
“This expansion will give us opportunities that we don’t have right now,” Logan said. “We have reached out to the current provider, EMSA, and other service providers in the area to see what our options are. If we were to pursue EMS through the fire department, we would have to increase staffing.”
The staff has already increased this year for the department. Logan said the city approved an additional paid firefighter for this year’s budget. A new recruit has been hired which bumps up the count to seven paid firefighters with 14 volunteers.
