Northside Fire Station up and running

It took five decades, but the Northside Fire Station is now operational.

Dublin Fire Chief Matthew Cutler announced that the newest fire station – one that had been in talks since the mid-1970s – was functioning as of Monday afternoon.

“We moved a couple of firetrucks and personnel into the Northside Fire Station,” Cutler said. “We are up and operational 24/7, and we’ll have somebody there every day. 

“This is a big part off of my plate. We still have some things to work through but at least we are in the community. People will be seeing firetrucks come in and out of there regularly from now on.” 

He said a tower truck, fire engine and mini-pumper will be added to the station soon. Firefighters will answer fire and wreck calls, along with some medical calls. They will also answer multi-aid calls in the county.

“The goal for this station is to provide faster service for the citizens,” Cutler said. “This station’s area goes back toward Hillcrest and Claxton Dairy and then back toward town to the Moore Street area. It will be totally dependent on the call. If it’s a structure fire, everybody is going to converge on the call.” 

The Northside Fire Station is located on U.S. 441 North, across from Stanley Funeral Home.

Cutler recalled former Dublin Fire Chief Robert Drew and Capt. Jimmy “Red” Mobley talking about building a station on the north side of Dublin.

“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 1970s,” the chief said last August. “I can only speculate that as Dublin was growing, plans changed, and Shamrock Station was built in 1980, placing the Northside Station on what I will call a long pause.” 

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. 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.

The groundbreaking for this new fire station was held in late August 2024. During that ceremony, Cutler thanked Robert Davidson for telling him about the grant opportunity through Sen. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock’s offices. After the city of Dublin applied for the congressional directive fund in 2022, Ossoff took to the floor in December of 2022 and talked to his colleagues about the importance of the Northside Fire Station. He was able to secure $1.82 million toward this project.

Goodwyn Mills Cawood provided architectural and environmental services for the 6,500-square-foot Northside Fire Station, which was constructed by Garbutt Construction. The new fire station has a double-loaded, two-door equipment bay for four vehicles, living and sleeping space for six firefighters and included offices and a radio room. Firefighters have a kitchen and dining space, exercise room and restrooms. They also have a driveway where they can easily pull their firetrucks into the bay without having to back them in.  

The city of Dublin will hold a ribbon cutting for this facility later this month.