Construction begins on Fire Station No. 2
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By this time next year, provided things stay on track and the weather is cooperative, the Jefferson City Fire Department will significantly reduce its response time to the east side of town.
That’s what Fire Chief Lee Turner says is expected to be the case when Station No. 2 goes online 11 months from now. Site preparation is underway, and the structure is expected to start rising from the ground by early August.
“Things are right on the schedule, right where they should be,” the chief said following Monday evening’s July Council session. “They’re going to pour the pad here in the next two or three weeks, so within a month (for framing).”
Cost projections for the station dropped in May by some $43,000, from $5,202,800 to $5,159,185. Turner credited Allen and Hoshall architects and the McSpadden Construction team with working to save funds where possible.
Along with visible changes at the future Odyssey Road location, Turner said the sense of excitement in what will become known as Station No. 1 is palpable.
“They’re fired up,” he said of his firefighters. “They’re talking about how things will be and trying to move in operations and getting ready for what that additional unit will mean to us.”
The second station, along with its equipment and staff, should yield several benefits for residents, one of which is measured in the time it takes to reach homes in an emergency.
“It will cut it by half, dropping it from 10-to-13-minute response time to about four or five(minutes),” Turner said.
It’s possible that the municipality’s ISO rating could improve and result in lower fire protection premiums for homeowners. The Insurance Services Office provides a 1-10 level system, with 1being best and dropping to 10 (for communities with no fire response).
Turner says Jefferson City’s ISO 3 rating could rise to “a mid-range 2” when the new location is operational. According to a report issued in March by the University of Tennessee’s MTAS(Municipal Technical Advisory Services), at present 62 communities stand at ISO 3 and 35 are classified at ISO 2. Tennessee’s eight ISO 1 municipalities include Alcoa, Chattanooga, Franklin, and Johnson City.
Another major upgrade will be the addition of a new Pierce Aerial Ladder Truck, the manufacture of which “is scheduled to start in December and should be ready for delivery in March or April of next year.”
Those capital acquisitions mean that Turner and City Manager James Gallup have been able to turn their attention to increasing the number of JCFD’s professional firefighters. Three were added last year, three more are to be added in the current 2025-26 FY budget, and another set of three in the 2026-27 financial year, which will provide a fully staffed force for both stations.
