New Effingham Co. Fire Station just the beginning for growing department

EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - It’s a project that Effingham County Fire Chief & EMA Director Clint Hodges says has been a long time coming.

“This station (in Springfield) was built in the mid 70′s, late 70′s, and it was never intended to have full time staffing.”

Replacing the old Springfield Fire Station is something Effingham County Fire has had on their list since they first merged five years ago.

“We’ve been working on this since 2015 and one of the biggest issues was finding the correct location for it,” said Chief Hodges.

But they’ve now found their new home just down road, in perhaps a less than likely place.

“Previously this was an old garment factory. It was built in the late 40′s early 50′s,” said Chief Hodges.

Refurbishing the old structure and adding on a bay. Giving them plenty of room for much more than just fire trucks.

“Not only is it good for housing the staffing but it allows us to bring all our administrative offices into one building which is not something we had before.”

A plan Chief Hodges says they’d had since the beginning.

“When Springfield and Effingham Fire merged services part of the agreement was that Springfield would build a new station that would also serve as the fire department’s headquarters for the entire county.”

While things are certainly looking up for the department, Chief Hodges says they aren’t finished yet.

“We’re in the process of engineering a station to replace the one in Guyton.”

Then by next spring they hope add their seventh manned station in the county off Hodgeville Road.

Doing their best to keep up with growth to keep everyone safe.

“Our goal is just to keep the response times as low as we can and provide the best service to the community,” said Chief Hodges.

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