The fire station in Forest, Indiana was built in 1954 and sustained heavy damage Saturday May 20, 2017 after severe storms prompted a tornado warning in Clinton County. At 8:34 p.m., Clinton County Dispatch said a confirmed tornado was located 7 miles northeast of Frankfort, moving northeast at 20 mph.
Around 9:30 p.m., county officials confirmed a fire station in Forest, located in the northeastern part of the county, was heavily damaged during the storms. Numerous public safety responders were dispatched to the area to assess damage. The Forest Volunteer Fire Department was among the buildings that were hit hardest. Its concrete block walls were knocked down and its roof was damaged along with a couple automobiles destroyed out side the station.
On October 17, 2017 the Fire Department released a statement “We want to inform our community that they will be receiving a New Fire Station in Forest. On May 20th a Tornado destroyed our local Fire Station. We applied for a grant through (OCRA) Office of Community & Rural Affairs on September 1. Today we were informed that we were granted $500k. This money along with insurance money will give us the funds needed for such project. I want to thank the community for all the donations and support you have given us. We want to thank our (OCRA) community liaison Gerry White for the help and support he has gave us. Thanks to Amy Miller with Corner Stone Grants Management with the writing and submission of the Grant. Thanks to Clinton County Commissioners Josh Uitts, Steve Woods, and Scott Shoemaker for all your help and support to make this happen. These individuals i just mentioned had a big part of us receiving this grant and i can’t thank them enough.”
Today the rafters are being set. It has been a long year and half for the department
Here are a few photos compliments of the Volunteer Fire Department
