By Stewart Voegtlin
stewart@jacksonprogress-argus.com

The Worthville Fire Station was closed on Monday, February 1.

County Administrator Alan White attributed closure to county budget cuts and the station’s mold and mildew problems, which resulted in condemnation.

The station, located on Keys Ferry Road near the intersection of Highway 36, was established in 1982 and turned over to the county in 1997.

White said the station had been abandoned for a temporary trailer, which housed a volunteer fireman position.

Rental cost of the trailer, DSL, and power fees will be recouped by the county.

White said County Fire Chief Tommy Ingram applied for grant funds to build a new Worthville station, and actually received word on Tuesday, February 2 a grant of $531,600 was awarded.

“It’s a future goal to reopen the station now that the funds have become available,” said White.

The Worthville Fire Station has been in disrepair for several months. The trailer was located on the site to house the single fireman position working on a rotating 24 hour shift assigned to the fire truck at the Zone Three station.

The fireman/driver positions were shifted to the Stark Station Fire District Six location on Halls Bridge Road where there was no assigned driver to the fire truck at that station.

Chief Ingram said the shift moved from a manned truck unit at Worthville over to an unmanned truck unit at Stark would not impact the county's Insurance Service Office rating since the change would not result in a reduction of available responding units.