DFD Northside Station been in the works since the 1950s

It has taken more than 50 years, but the city of Dublin finally threw a celebration for the Northside Fire Station groundbreaking Monday morning. 

Dublin Fire Chief Matthew Cutler said the Northside Fire Station had been talked about in the city of Dublin since the 1970’s and had been in the planning since 2021.

Cutler thanked Robert Davidson for telling him about the grant opportunity through Sen. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock’s offices. Both senators were able to secure $1.82 million for the new station. State Director Chandra Harris, with Ossoff’s office, thanked all of the firefighters, first responders and law enforcement officials who help keep the community safe.

“It was about a year and a half ago when Sen. Ossoff was here among many of you to announce the progress toward this fire station with the delivery of federal funding that he secured for this very important project,” Harris said. “Each year, Sen. Ossoff has the privilege and responsibility of submitting a very limited number of projects from all across the state that needs federal support to get across the finish line. He worked with Republicans and Democrats to secure funding.” 

Goodwyn Mills Cawood will provide architectural and environmental services for the 6,500-square-foot Northside Fire Station, which will be constructed by Garbutt Construction. The new fire station will have a double-loaded, two-door equipment bay for four vehicles, living and sleeping space for six firefighters and include offices and a radio room. Firefighters will also have a kitchen and dining space, exercise room and restrooms. 

“If you ask me to use one word to describe our planning team, I would say determined,” Cutler said. “This team has gone through many ups and downs, there were meetings we left encouraged, and at other times discouraged, wondering if we would be able to finish it. No pressure, just a project that has been in the works for over 50 years. … The road to this day has been difficult to say the least, but here we are!” 

The Northside Fire Station is expected to be completed by May of 2025. When the city of Dublin applied for a congressional directive fund in 2022, Ossoff and his team knew this was important for Dublin, Harris said. 

“That is why when he took the floor in December of 2022, he talked to his colleagues about the importance of this project,” she said. “He bridged partisan divides and secured the $1.82 million toward this project. The senator knows this is about improving public safety for this community. There is no worse nightmare than anyone can imagine than waking up in the middle of the night, smelling smoke, calling 911 but fire, rescue is either not available or too far away. That’s why this new station is so important and why it will help save lives.” 

Dublin Mayor Joshua Kight said it took three decades to reach the point of the groundbreaking.

“This fire station will soon be a reality,” the mayor said. “The goal of this project is to reduce the response time of the fire department for our citizens because seconds save lives. Now here we are with all of this work and effort.”

The tax assessors office showed where the new fire station’s property was purchased from the Durden family in 1994, Cutler said.

“If you investigate the archives of The Courier Herald, the city was talking about a fire station on the northside while the Southside Station was being built in the early 1970’s,” the chief said. “I can only speculate that as Dublin was growing, plans changed, and Shamrock Station was built in 1980 placing Northside Station on what I will call a long pause.” 

Cutler recalled former Dublin fire chief Robert Drew and Capt. Jimmy “Red” Mobley talked about building a station on the northside. Drew kept putting the Northside Fire Station in the budget and every year it was kicked out. 

After Drew retired on May 1, 2012, Pat Ballard was appointed fire chief. Ballard’s vision for the property was to building a training center. But this never happened and the site remained untouched when Ballard retired on Dec. 31, 2016, Cutler said.

When Cutler was named DFD Chief in January of 2017, Drew and Mobley talked with him many times about the need for a fire station on the northside of town.

“I took a city map and drew coverage circles around the existing stations,” Cutler said. “Then I drew a coverage circle around this site. All three circles perfectly overlapped.” 

He also researched the fire station’s response times to the northside of town, which turned out to be seven to nine minutes depending on the traffic from either station.

“That doesn’t sound too bad, unless you are the one in cardiac arrest, you are the one trapped in a burning building, or you are the one involved in a serious wreck,” Cutler said. “… What this station will do is give us a chance to arrive quicker to this area than ever before. It will give us a better chance to save you from fire, it will give us a better chance to save your loved ones. In an emergency, time is our greatest adversary. The mission of the Dublin Fire Department is to provide the highest level of fire and life safety services to the citizens and visitors of Dublin and Laurens County while preserving property and protecting the environment. That is what Northside Fire Station will do. We vow to be good neighbors, even though we test our sirens every morning, hopefully it will be music to your ears. We vow to be there for you in your time of need.” 

He presented a power point presentation to Kight and Dublin City Manager Josh Powell. The presentation showed hundreds of residences, two schools, several businesses, multiple apartment complexes, assisted living complexes and major intersections where serious crashes occur.

“We are here today to better serve the residents, businesses and travelers of North Dublin,” Cutler said. “We are here today because many people recognized a need and found a way to fulfill the need. The chiefs before me were not unsuccessful, the timing was not right for their projects. It is not that I have more passion or drive than my predecessors, I am just the one blessed to be in this position when all the stars aligned.” 

Powell thanked city of Dublin engineer Matthew Bradshaw, former and current city councilmen and the officials from Goodwyn Mills Cawood and Garbutt Construction.

“I know we are here to celebrate the starting of this project, but the facility is meaningless without the people in it,” Powell said. “I want all of our firefighters and public safety officials know that we appreciate what you do. You guys never know what you are going to leave the station to head out to, and this station will provide an easier way to deliver the services you do.”  

Christ Chapel Dublin Pastor Gregg Soles talked before giving an invocation during the event.

“We are thankful that God has allowed this to happen,” Soles said. “We are thankful for all of those who served. We pray that as you are housed and dispatched from this very site that you will be kept always in God’s amazing hands to perform and do what He asks you to do.”