Briceville VFD will have open house
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank (holding ribbon) addresses the gathering for the ribbon cutting at the new Briceville fire hall. (photo:EmmaGrace Bridges )
The department will have an open house for the public to come and see the new fire hall from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14.
Harkening back to his time as a former volunteer with a local fire department, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, who was in attendance, praised the department for its service to the community and its people.
“I know the dedication it takes to be a volunteer, to put yourself in harm’s way in service to others,” McNally said after the event. “That takes a lot of heart, and this community has a lot of heart.”
“USDA Rural Development is very happy to have partnered with the Briceville Volunteer Fire Department in the construction of this new fire hall,” said Dan Beasley, deputy director of USDA Rural Development in Nashville.
“This type of project is the very definition of what Rural Development does on a daily basis across Tennessee,” he said. “We are very proud to have assisted the community and its people in financing this new fire hall and we know it will serve Briceville and its residents well, for years to come.”
Briceville VFD Chief Jamie Brewster praised the community and gave the USDA and credit specialist Kirk Morris extra thanks “for being with us every step of the way.”
“This whole project started with a prayer and the vision of Chief Brewster,” Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said.
“His board got behind that vision, and the community got behind it.”
Frank thanked USDA, state leaders, county officials, and the community for standing behind the project.
Also delivering remarks at last week’s ribbon-cutting were: Kirk Morris; Kim Butler, on behalf of her husband, state Rep. Ed Butler; Anderson County Sheriff Russell Barker; and county commissioners Shain Vowell, Tim Isbel and Tracy Wandell.
The path to building a new fire hall in Briceville started years ago.
In 2019, officials with the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development announced a grant to the Briceville VFD for $80,700 and a loan of $74,200, along with a county match of $30,000 to make the dream of a new station a reality.
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and the project hit a number of snags.
Market disruptions affected bidders, and supply-chain issues created cost increases, forcing reworking of the project and it financing, scaling back, new bids – and, also, the need to close a funding gap for price increases that were not going away.
It took time to make it all happen, but the project is finally complete, and the new station is well on its way to years of service to the residents of the Briceville community.
The Briceville Volunteer Fire Department was founded in 1978.