JAN. 17, 2025 - The Mills River Fire Department substation located along Fanning Fields Road burned down in the early morning hours of Jan. 17. (WLOS Staff)
MILLS RIVER, N.C. (WLOS) — A Mills River Fire Department substation has burned down, according to Henderson County Fire Marshal Kevin Waldrup.
Mills River Fire Department's Station No. 2, located at 100 Fanning Fields Road, caught fire in the early morning hours of Jan. 17.
"It was at approximately 1:30 a.m. Everything in this station is destroyed," Waldrup said.
Waldrup said the cause of the fire is still under investigation and the cause is unknown.
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Deputy Chief Gary Livingston has seen devastation like this before, but now it's hitting close to home.
“Our home, our substation, I was here when this was built,” Livingston said. “It hits home. We’re a tight-knit group at Mills River.”
Livingston was the Fire Chief when the building was opened in 1997.
“It’s kind of gut-wrenching this morning for me,” he said. “When we built this, we didn’t have a lot of money back then. We built this station for $204,000 back then. Today, it’ll probably be over a million dollars at least.” said Livingston.
“I’ve been around this for 46 years,” he said. “I’ve never been around anything that happened like this. This is tough," said Livingston.
Waldrup said there were no injuries, since it was an unmanned station. He said the fire department had a brush truck in the station that it was about to deploy to aid in the wildfires in California.
"But that truck was destroyed," he said.
A trailer was lost as well.
The substation was a valued asset to response time. Livingston said the public shouldn't worry after this setback.
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“It hampers us,” Livingston said. “We won’t have a truck over here right now to respond to emergencies over here. We will be alright, and everybody will be protected just like they have been.”
Livingston will now have to start the process of building the substation for the second time in his career.
“We will rebuild,” Livingston said. “It’s sad. It’s a sad day for us. It sure is. We will be better than we were before when we do so.”
Waldrop also told News 13 that the investigation will be lengthy due to the nature of the fire.
Livingston said crews got the call for the fire at 1:29 a.m. at the Mills River Fire Department substation on Fanning Fields Road.
"Three vehicles were destroyed. The building is a total loss. It was built in 1997," Livingston said.