Harrison County officials break ground on Fire Station 15

HARRISON COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) - A day that many Harrison County officials have waited for.

Wednesday morning, city officials broke ground on the future home of Harrison County’s new Fire Station 15.

“We started the idea probably about four, five years ago,” said Connie Rockco, Harrison County District 5 Supervisor.

The new station will be strategically located on Tradition Parkway off of Highway 67. Harrison County Fire Chief Pat Sullivan says this station is all about the location.

“We don’t have fire stations as close as they do in the cities to one another,” he explained. “And so the more fire stations we can get out of here, staff, reduces that response time and protects our citizens.”

Sullivan said that he recognizes the struggle in hiring first responders as of late. However, he believes that staffing the new station will not be a problem.

“We’re bringing to the table a department that people want to come to,” said Sullivan. “We’re bringing these people out to a community that wants them here and they’ll fit in.”

These are just some of the reasons Sullivan believes staffing won’t be an issue. An even bigger reason is Harrison County’s competitive starting pay for firefighters.

“We think that we’ll attract the recruits that we need because of what our pay scale is,” said Sullivan.

Not only will the coming of this new station positively affect the bank accounts of the firefighters who will work in it, but also the citizens who surround the area.

“We’re so excited because it’s gonna lower everyone’s insurance rates,” said Rockco.

Station 15 construction is set to be complete winter of 2024 or early 2025, weather and supplies permitting.

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