Residents of the Colony Ridge community in the south of Plum Grove can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the neighborhood’s inaugural fire station has officially opened its doors. The Plum Grove Volunteer Fire Department hosted an eagerly anticipated grand opening celebration on Saturday afternoon, April 20, at the newly established fire station, situated at 1678 CR 5100 in the Santa Fe subdivision. This long-awaited event was open to the public and marked a significant milestone for the community.
Fresh grilled burgers and hot dogs, along with chips and snow cones were served up to guests. Children also had the option to have fun in bouncy houses provided by Liberty County Pct. 6 Corporal Courtney Lee.
Appearances were made by Liberty County District Attorney Jennifer Bergman, Pct. 6 Constable Zack Harkness, Plum Grove Mayor Mary Arrendell, Colony Ridge’s John Harris, and many more.
Moments before Fire Chief Brandon Frazier addressed the crowd at the grand opening of Fire Station 872, an age-old tradition took place. The fire department engaged in a ceremonial hose uncoupling, marking the significance of the occasion. Notably, both Frazier and Colony Ridge CEO John Harris, whose company generously donated the land for the station, participated in this symbolic act.
“In July of 2020 I stood in front of the county and said that our department had about three years before we ran out of funding, and we would have to start limiting costs. Again in 2022, I stood in front of the county again and I said the same thing,” said Frazier.
According to Frazier, the department was in the process of establishing an Emergency Service District (ESD) to prevent the closure of fire stations by securing a funding source. Despite their efforts, the ESD could not be created at that time.
“Right after that, it takes about a year or so to try to go through that type of process, and then there’s a bunch of channels after that. So after two years of trying it just wasn’t going to happen and we were on our way to running out of time,” said Frazier.
The PGVFD overcame numerous challenges, with Chief Frazier commending his firefighters for their unwavering dedication. Despite the difficulties, the team refused to yield, showing remarkable resilience. Many members are now certified firefighters and EMT medics, contributing to the department’s impressive achievement of a 5 rating on the Insurance Services Office (ISO) scale, a feat for a fully volunteer-based fire department.
“From there the first olive branch kind of reached out to us. Colony Ridge reached out and said, ‘Hey we want to build you a fire station.’ That was music to our ears because we are still looking to grow, still looking to do things. We are not giving up”, said Frazier during his speech.
According to Frazier, the process with Colony Ridge started in February 2022.
“Around that time, Colony Ridge and the fire department started changing the conversation into how we can create a partnership between Colony Ridge and the fire department to make sure that the fire department continues to do what it needs to do out here and make sure that all of you have improved and increased fire protection. It took a while,” said Frazier. “I really want to thank everybody who had a part in helping us do that and in the end Mr. John Harris was standing here ready to sign the paperwork, and I very much appreciate it.”
In Frazier’s speech, he said the agreements included the celebration of the opening ceremony and it involved funding to help the fire department to the point to where they can advance and have a fire protection plan and program that goes to the next level for the Colony Ridge community.
“When things get really big and out of control, one person cannot really lead anymore. There is this thing called unified command and that’s where leaders from different entities really have to work together or we all fail. That is what you are witnessing today. These are leaders from different organizations coming together to make this work. We can’t sit here and fight all the time. We can’t stand our ground and stay stuck where we are. We have to advance in the world. This fire department is no different, volunteer or not. For over 50 years, we’ve been serving this community, and we are happy to keep doing that,” said Frazier.
To conclude his speech, Frazier announced that the PGVFD will be publicly known as the West Liberty County Volunteer Fire Department and showed the visitors the new patch the firefighters will be wearing.
“PGFD is not ceasing to exist our board roles, what we do, our legal name still exists. But publicly this is how we will be operating moving forward as soon as that paperwork is approved and finalized, and you all are the first that get to see the patch,” the chief said.
After the announcement and speech, the fire station then participated in a push-in ceremony with Fire Engine 871. This longstanding tradition sees firefighters come together to literally push the fire engine into the station, a custom that has been upheld for generations.
Lastly, to conclude the traditional ceremonies, visitors were asked to enter the station for the final portion of the grand opening ceremonies, which was having Liberty County dispatchers’ tone in Fire Station 872 and Fire Engine 871 into service.
“I think, for us, building a fire department has been a thing we’ve always wanted to do since we first created the MMD. We knew that we were going to be building a community. We know that the community needs everything from a grocery store to a fire station and ambulance system,” said John Harris.
Harris says he wants to provide more schools and more options for the residents of Colony Ridge.
“There was a time in this business for me that I realized that I had enough. We wanted to give back. For the fire department, we are happy to pay a yearlong contract, since we know that the approval process that funds the MMD is going to take a while, which is mainly paperwork and government bureaucracy,” said Harris.
Harris says he is excited about the growing community.
“For me being out there at the grand opening on Saturday gives me the energy to deal with any amount of negativity. Nothing can compete with the community we have,” said Harris afterward.
Are we going to have the traditional Colony Ridge celebration where we get shitface drunk on modelo, fire guns into the air, torture a goat before we barbecue it, then puke our guts out into the toilet connected to the pvc pipe running to the ditch?
Sounds like a good time.
Yes, all but a few who will be busy stripping the new fire truck
Do they all speak spanish? Need to if you are going to serve a colonia.