Firefighters Set up Shop in Station 2

East Ridge firefighters moved into their new home Thursday morning, as they ceremoniously pushed a firetruck into one of Station 2’s three bays.

The 7,000-square foot station in the 1400 block of St. Thomas Street was designed by Chief Mike Williams and architect Don Sells. J& J Contractors began construction on the $1.6 million building in November of 2016.

The city had to relocate the fire hall around the corner from the old No. 2 station to make room for the development of the Bass Pro Shops on Camp Jordan Parkway.

The new fire station is similar to the old No. 2 in design except that it has a third bay, officials said. The three bays of the station will house two engines, a squad and in the future a ladder truck, officials said. The station will be where the department keeps its Hazmat trailer and the two boats ERFD has for water rescue.

Chief Williams said an official dedication of the new fire station will be held sometime after the first of the year.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.