Bristol Tennessee Fire Department unveils new Fire Station 2

BRISTOL, Tennessee – Bristol, Tennessee, unveiled its highly anticipated new Fire Station 2 on Monday.

“This new station here has been many years in the planning and we have gone through the entire process to actually make it a reality,” said BTFD CEO Mike Carrier.

The new $4 million, 8,000-square-foot station is located next to Holston View Elementary School and replaces the smaller facility at 1109 King College Road, which was built in the 1960s.

Chief Carrier explained that the new station is better located and better equipped to serve the community of Bristol, Tennessee.

“We have a station that is much more compatible with the equipment and equipment sizes that we have at the fire department today,” Carrier said. “We have a station that is much more user-friendly for the firefighters – both men and women – that are stationed here 24 hours a day, 10 days a month.”

The new station features six individual dormitory-style bedrooms for on-duty firefighters, a living room, kitchen and gym.

Chief Carrier emphasized that the new station not only provides better living quarters for the city’s firefighters, but also meets the latest NFPA standards and features everything from a decontamination room for equipment to an air scrubber system that significantly reduces exposure to carcinogens.

“This gas station is equipped with an air scrubber system that filters out all carcinogens from the oils, fuels and exhaust from these trucks,” Carrier said.

The new location of Fire Station 2 will allow the BTFD to respond to calls more quickly, Carrier said.

“Our goal is to have the first unit and first crew on scene within four minutes of the first call for a structure fire. Where the fire has occurred so far, it has been quite difficult to meet those timelines and distance,” Carrier said.

“This station should be able to serve the citizens of Bristol and this special region for the next 50 years,” added Carrier.

Chief Carrier explained that construction on Fire Station 2 began in December 2022 and emphasized that the BTFD has been partially operating from there since July 29.

“We started occupying the building on July 29, and that’s when the first calls actually started coming from that station,” Carrier said.

BTFD will host a grand opening ceremony for Fire Station 2 on site this Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.