Liberty Fire Department celebrated the re-grand opening of Fire Station 1 on Tuesday, Dec. 13, after significant renovations including a new roof, floors and paint, new furniture, and expanded dorms. The event celebrated the rejuvenation and upgrade of the City of Liberty’s vital facilities.
The fire station, located at 1912 Lakeland Drive, was first built in 2005 and has not seen any major improvements since then, so this round of renovations was long overdue.
“They updated the entire side of the station outside the offices, and our bathrooms. We went from two bathrooms to five bathrooms, and from two showers to five showers. Our living quarters were upgraded from eight beds to 20. The kitchen was renovated and we have new furniture throughout the building,” said Liberty Fire Chief Brian Hurst. “We added a commercial-grade cooking hood in the kitchen where we didn’t have one before. We also upgraded our fire code stuff and added a sprinkler system throughout the entire building and in the apparatus bay.”
A section of the fire station’s porch was converted to mechanical rooms and storage room, giving the interior about 600-700 feet of gained space, Hurst said.
The $1.697 million in renovations was funded through the City of Liberty’s Cambridge Fund, which is derived from profits from the Sam Rayburn Municipal Power Agency (SRMPA). SRMPA provides wholesale electrical services to its three member cities – Jasper, Livingston and Liberty.
The Lakeland Drive fire station will soon be one of two fire stations serving the City of Liberty. By summer of 2024, construction should be finished at Fire Station 2, located at 119 Bowie Street. Ground was broken for Fire Station 2 in October 2023. The bulk of the funding for Fire Station 2 comes from a $5 million grant from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. The cost for Fire Station 2 is estimated to be $6 million. The City has funds set aside to pay for the remaining costs.
Once both stations are open, Hurst said he will split manpower between the stations to ensure that the City of Liberty has adequate coverage in the event of a fire or emergency.
“We have seven full-time people here a day and one part-time,” Hurst said.
Without the support of City Manager Tom Warner, city administration and the Liberty City Council, the project would not have been possible, and Hurst is grateful.
“They have been nothing but helpful to us. I don’t know how other agencies do it without having the backing. They are fantastic to the fire department,” he said.
In discussing improvements to the department, Hurst mentioned that he has recently promoted firefighter Ashley Pate to be the full-time fire marshal for the City of Liberty. Pate’s first date as fire marshal is Jan. 2, 2024.
This is the first time in the fire department’s history that one person has been dedicated to the job of fire marshal. Previously assistant fire chiefs shared the responsibility of fire marshal in addition to their other duties.
Hurst is confident that Pate is up to the task of being a fire marshal.
“She has been our fire captain on B-shift. She will be working on code violations, burn permits, burn violations and such. Part of her duty will be when we have a fire in the city during the day and when she’s on duty, she will immediately respond to the fire and will take over a particular job on the fire scene, whether it be an accountability officer or something else. She will manage all of the arson investigations. It’s a big job,” Hurst said.
Pate has been with Liberty Fire Department for five years. During that time she has worked as a paramedic and firefighter, and has all of the required certifications to be a fire marshal, according to Hurst.
“She’s very conscientious and very bright. She’s also very willing to learn,” he added.
Wait, so the fire department station did not have a fire suppression system? That can’t be right.