Ky. Department Darkened by Blaze Welcomes New Fire Station

July 25--At 2 p.m. Saturday, the Dundee Volunteer Fire Department will be back in business -- more than 13 months after the station was destroyed by a fire.

"We're having an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.," Donnie Hibbard, a Dundee firefighter, said Thursday. "When the open house ends, we'll be back in service."

People can walk through the station and see the department's new pumper truck, the restored brush truck and equipment that was salvaged from the fire, he said.

Snacks and drinks will be available.

Fire broke out in the battery compartment of the department's pumper truck on June 15, 2013, destroying the truck and the station.

The insurance company paid the department a $176,000 settlement for the building, about $58,000 for the lost firefighting equipment and $32,000 for personal property destroyed in the blaze.

Between the new station, new equipment and the new pumper, Hibbard said, "we've probably spent around $350,000 to get back in service."

The department had hoped to be back in service in January, he said, "but it was a rough winter, and everything got delayed."

While the Dundee station was out of commission, its service area was covered by the Fordsville and Rosine fire departments.

Members of the Dundee department worked with those two departments while their station was out of service.

The new pumper truck was stored in Evansville while the new station was being built.

"Our coverage area is five miles in any direction from the station," Hibbard said. "And we're second responders to any fire in the northern half of the county."

It's going to be good to have the department back in operation, he said.

Keith Lawrence, 691-7301, [email protected]

Copyright 2014 - Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.