Birmingham Fire Station No. 8
Birmingham Fire Station No. 8 is located at 4112 Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard North to serve the Kingston community.
Orginally the East Fire Department of Birmingham serving the Lakeview Community, Fire Company 8 was one of two stations build in response to the 1905 Tarriff assessment. Due to it's closeness to Station 3 it was moved to the north side and the former station location many know. The Former Station was located at 4100 10th Ave until 2017.
A new station was completed with 3 bays housing Engine 8 and Rescue 8 in 2018.
In 1960 Company No. 8 operated one 750-gallon 1944 American LaFrance pumper from the station.
Amid concerns about roof failures, contaminated water, mold and asbestos, the station was closed on May 9, 2016 and its firefighters and equipment assigned to other stations in Inglenook and Avondale.
Residents of Kingston have petitioned the city to build a replacement fire station in the neighborhood. Mayor William Bell has proposed using $3 million from bond issues to replace the facility, but the Birmingham City Council wanted to also fund repairs to the Carver Theater and to other fire stations and recommended delaying development of another of Bell's proposals, a "Freedom Center" at the A. G. Gaston Motel, in order to include the funding in the 2017 Birmingham budget. The impasse ended on August 23 when the City Council accepted a verbal agreement from the mayor to include some of their priorities in budget amendments and voted 9-0 to fund the replacement fire station.
In March 2017 Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United donated a parcel at 4112 Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard North, adjoining the former station, to allow for construction of the new, larger facility. A $2.967 million bid from Stone Building Company for construction of the new station was approved by the Birmingham City Council on June 20, 2017.
Equipment
- Engine 8 (currently housed at Birmingham Fire Station No. 10/22)
- Rescue 8 (currently housed at Birmingham Fire Station No. 23)
References
- Journey, Rick (June 21, 2016) "City Hall debate over Birmingham's Kingston Fire Station." WVTM.com
- Chambers, Jesse (August 23, 2016) "Council approves Kingston fire station" Iron City Ink
- West, Ty (March 6, 2017) "Coca-Cola to donate property for city of Birmingham project." Birmingham Business Journal
External links
- Birmingham City Council Press Release funding to replace Fire Station 8.
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 8 at Birmingham Retired Firefighters of Local 117 website