By Shavonne Potts
Salisbury Post
A year ago, a fire tore through the Liberty Fire station No. 60. The fire originated in the attic and quickly spread to the rest of the building.
Now, contractors have put the walls and floor in place for a new station to replace the one Liberty lost.
Alfred Price, treasurer of the fire department’s board of directors, said contractors are two months into construction.
They hope to complete the new station in September, he said.
The new building is similar to the old one, but with more square footage, Price said.
The burned facility had 4,800 square feet of space that housed five vehicles.
Larry Reynolds, superintendent of D.R. Reynolds Company, Inc., and employee Todd Morris braved the heat Monday to tackle a few things before the brick work begins.
Reynolds said they stripped the concrete forms off some of the doors and reinstalled some others, “to protect the edges for bricks to be laid later on.”
Reynolds said recent high temperatures haven’t hindered their work.
“There’s been no delays. We’ve had no setbacks,” he said.
Reynolds adds that weather typically plays a role in a project not running as smoothly as it could.
“It is unusual. Usually something comes up,” he said.
Much of the other work, including electrical wiring, will depend on subcontractors, Reynolds said.
The engineering- and contracting-services company is based in Star.
The blaze that destroyed the old station started around 4:30 a.m. on June 12, 2007, and consumed the satellite station. The trucks inside the station were saved.
Part of the building dated to the 1970s.
Investigators never determined the cause of the fire. Damage to the structure made it impossible to pinpoint a cause.
The only thing officials could figure out, based on video shot by neighbors, was that the fire started in the attic. Experiencing such a loss is difficult, but the department managed to keep going, Price said.
Everyone contributed ideas to the new design. “We had input from everyone,” he said.
Liberty serves a 32-square-mile area along High Rock Lake. The primary station is located at Stokes Ferry and Saint Matthew’s Church roads.
Contact Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253 or spotts@salisburypost.com.