The Lodi-Minerva Road Volunteer Fire Department Board is working toward a grant to help with the building of a new volunteer fire department. The group, led by concerned citizens, wants to create a fire station in the Lodi-Minerva area of eastern Montgomery County because there isn’t one in the area or nearby.
According to members of the community, if there’s a fire, Kilmichael, Duck Hill or Winona has responded, and depending on the location of the fire, response time is longer than if a station was located in that community. A fire station nearby could also mean lower insurance rates, and that’s a win for everyone in the area.
The Lodi community is widespread, and that can also be a problem for outside departments to respond to fire calls. Part of Lodi is near Stewart and Kilmichael, while a part is near Winona, and the other is near Duck Hill. This could mean between a 10-15 minute response time for a neighboring volunteer fire department or neighboring station, according to Lodi leaders.
Community members decided to do something about it. Determined to build their own department, a group has held fundraisers to raise money to begin the process of building a fire department, but they haven’t met their goal, yet.
Thursday night, the group met at Kilmichael Baptist Church with Montgomery County Supervisor Willie Townsend, Jr., in attendance. The group is working on acquiring a grant through the North Central Planning and Development District to help build the fire department. Their goal is to build the entire department through grant money, which takes a burden off of local citizens.
“We have to follow the guidelines to the letter, or they’ll throw [the grant application] out,” Townsend said. “We just need to get this architectural part down.”
A member told Townsend they knew an architect that may be willing to do the rendering for them.
In the meantime, the group is planning fundraisers to help to continue their efforts to raise money. In November, they’re planning a garage sale and auction at the home of Dorothy and Redell Coffey, located at 1765 Lodi Road in Kilmichael, and they’re selling raffle tickets.
“Do the supervisors know about this?” Jewel Harrison asked.
“Yeah, they know,” Willie Townsend, Jr. said.
“That’s what I go up there for, to ask,” Henry Townsend, Sr. said.
“But, it doesn’t matter if you go up there. I know why you’re up there. It’s on our supervisor to push for us. They’ll take care of their own beats and make sure they have what they need. He can do the same for us. You’ve gotta push for us,” Harrison told Willie Townsend, Jr.
“This is something that’s good,” Harrison said. “It can help all of us, not just a select few. They have a fire budget. Instead of dividing the money up between five stations, they can divide it up between six and give us our portion so we can get this building started.”
