News

Valley Hill station move to lower insurance cost for some

County commissioners Michael Edney, Grady Hawkins and Tommy Thompson, County Manager Steve Wyatt and Commissioner Bill Lapsley cut the ribbon on the new EMS substation in Crab Creek.

By Bill Moss, Published: December 10, 2015

CRAB CREEK — Crab Creek residents are getting faster response time for both fire and emergency medical calls thanks to a new fire station further west and new EMS station and crew. The move also means some Crab Creek homeowners with poor fire protection ratings will get a better rating and cheaper fire insurance.

Valley Hill Fire & Rescue Department decided it needed to move further west to serve the farthest reaches of its district on Jeter Mountain and to the Transylvania line. The department built a new 5,300-square-foot station for $900,000 on three acres of land on Golden Eagle Way donated by the Frank and Alice Edney Family Trust.
“We were able to sell our old station to the county,” he said. “We all worked together. It is awesome that an EMS substation and fire department can be close together and it’s all for the citizens.”
The new station, 2.2 miles west of the old one, means residents within 5 miles will see their fire insurance rating drop to a class 4 (the lower the number the better). Previously, some homes were class 9 or class 10, which the state Department of Insurance considers no fire coverage. “There should be not one place over 6 miles,” Garren said, meaning all will have at least a class 9 rating.
The Valley Hill Fire & Rescue Department thanked Jimmy Edney and his son, Michael Edney, for donating family land for the new fire station in Crab Creek.The new Valley Hill firehouse, called the Edney Station, is staffed 24 hours a day seven days a week by two paid firefighters. The station deploys a pumper truck, two tankers and an emergency medical truck with EMTs.
“We’ve been running out of station for two months,” Garren said. “This station has already proved itself time and time again. There are people that are going to save a lot of money — thousands and thousands of dollars — immediately and going forward. It’s reduced response time.”
The state has already inspected and certified the station and will issue new fire ratings in the spring. Crab Creek homeowners should check by next April on their rating and see if they’re eligible for lower premiums, Garren said.
Henderson County commissioners, the county manager and staff and first responders dedicated the new Valley Hill station and the new EMS substation on Monday. The county paid $204,000 for the two-acre Valley Hill station and converted it to an ambulance station with a fulltime crew.
“It not only helps response time here, it helps response time countywide,” said EMS Director Mike Barnett. “It helps everyone. We have already had several calls where we’ve reduced response time by half.”