The new Hillisburg Fire Department will be on display on Saturday at an Open House from 1-4 p.m. at the station.
“This has been a combined effort from Johnson Township and the Northeast Fire Territory,” said long-time Johnson Township Fire Chief Gordon Phillips. “Want to thank Tom Marshall, his advisory board, Nick Bales and all the advisory board members from there.”
Phillips said they have been fighting a space issue for years until this facility came along.
“We’ve lived with cramped quarters for a long time,” said Phillips. ” “Fifty years ago, I started in a little block building that had three trucks crammed in it. You had to climb over one to get to another one. In 1976, we built a second building and then it got cramped.”
Finally, there now in a building where things can happen.
“We’re very fortunate to have about 25 guys on the roster,” said Phillips. “If all of them show up in the winter time, we couldn’t do anything. We couldn’t train in the winter and we had to pull trucks outside in the cold to train. Now, we have a wonderful building and we can do that on the inside.”
Phillips said the truck bay 100 feet long and 50 feet wide, has room for five trucks and five doors, there’s plenty of room to walk around in, they can train inside, a handicapped bathroom, new meeting room, kitchen and office.
Phillips said about 1:30 p.m., they will have a little program for a dedication. He added the president of the Indiana Volunteers Firemens Association will be there to present a clock for a new station.
Recently, Phillips was honored by the Indiana Volunteer Firemans Association for his service. He has been with the department for a long time — this year is in his 50th year — and he has been fire chief for45 years.