Fire station in Chickasaw County is thankful for its community

CHICKASAW COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Firefighters are used to responding to their communities in times of need.

Now, in Chickasaw County, the community is returning the favor.

Fighting fires and answering other emergency calls is hard enough, but it’s even more of a challenge when you don’t have all the equipment you need close by.

That’s what the Thorne Volunteer Fire Department ran into years ago but with the help of their neighbors, that hard work got just a little easier.

The Thorn Volunteer Fire Department has come a long way in the past few years.

Four years ago their firehouse couldn’t hold all of their equipment like their fire trucks.

Thorn Fire Chief Andy Harmon said that’s when their community stepped in.

“We’ve been having to pinch every penny that we can get because thankfully what you see behind us is all donations throughout the community all except our Senator Ben Suber and Representative John Lancaster went to bat last year and got a bond issue passed to help us with the final stages cause we were at a standstill and they saw how the community came together and supported this project and it’s been overwhelming,” said Harmon.

After that call for help, a few bake sales, and a handful of cookouts the Fire Department raised around $200,000 from the community and an additional $50,000 from the help of the state.

Harmon and Fire Coordinator Johnathan Blankenship said that support really opened their eyes to how much the Fire Department is appreciated.

“The community has been great. It goes from a lady cooking a cake at night to having a bake sale the next day and then you walk into the room the next day and there are 30 cakes so that’s 30 households that thought about their fire department and it’s been overwhelming with the support we’ve had,” said Harmon.

“Between the community stepping forward and then our state representatives and senator got together and then made everything happen over the past couple of years,” said Blankenship.

Now with their gear all under one roof, firefighters are better prepared to answer the call.

“The Community really got behind us and it really helped the fire department and to be where we are at we get to serve our fellow neighbors and protect them and help with insurance ratings and protect the community,” said Harmon.

On top of their amazing new space, the Thorn Volunteer Fire Department now has brand new storm shelters that they are providing to the community during severe weather.

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