The Greer Fire Department will soon move into a new station on Suber Road following its grand opening earlier this week.
“The concept of safety has changed drastically 1000% or more and that’s a good thing that we have going on in the city of Greer,” Deputy Fire Marshal Carl Howell said.
Deputy Fire Marshal Carl Howell has been with the Greer Fire Department since 1975 when he started as a volunteer firefighter.
“Interest in being somebody who got out into the community and helping people,” Howell said.
That’s why seeing the new station open is so important to him and the department.
“Fire is a hybrid, a residential and a commercial building but it’s operating 24/7,” said Chief Dorian Flowers.
Chief Dorian Flowers says everything in the station was built intentionally.
“It also has to be designed to what’s called critical infrastructure standard if there is a major event, a natural disaster or something like that Fire stations are supposed to be the last thing standing,” said Flowers.
City leaders like Councilman Wryley Bettis agree.
“When the city does a project it’s first-class we don’t do it halfway,” Bettis said.
The station falls in his district, and he says providing top-quality public safety is a duty of the city.
“It’s all about service to our constituents and all about making sure that the people have in the case of the fire department. They have the fire and the medical response that’s necessary,” Bettis said.
And it doesn’t stop here. Once firefighters are moved into this new space, another project focused on public safety can begin.
“Being able to move the station and the crews from hood Road over here that opens up that location for them to build the new public safety training facility,” said Flowers.
For Howell, it’s the next step in a decades-long mission to continuously improve fire safety in the city.
“That’s why we’re building things like this, trucks that are better-equipped, safety equipment. It’s all about safety,” Howell said.