By MARK CONE

The Bailey Volunteer Fire Department has added a second station, a new truck, and is in the process of building a fire training ground — and area residents are already seeing the rewards financially.

Bailey’s new satellite station on West Hornes Church Road had its open house last weekend but actually opened last November, bringing additional coverage to an area of the county known as “no man’s land” where multiple rural fire department districts come together or approach county lines.

Since November, the area has seen its Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating drop from as high as nine down to four in the rural areas and three within the Town of Bailey.

“We are one of only two all-volunteer departments in the entire state that has an in-town ISO rating of three,” said Bailey Fire Chief Tim Wilson. “Some residents have seen a 27 percent decrease in their fire insurance premium because of us adding this station.”

The station has also added a new “combo” truck to its fleet of 13 fire apparatus. The new truck can serve as a pumper, rescue truck, and extrication truck all at once.

“Previously if you went on a bad wreck call, you had to roll three different trucks; now we only have to roll one, and it has all the capabilities of the other three trucks combined,” Wilson said. “That means less man-power needed and the equipment gets to the scene quicker. That gives us three trucks that can respond to other calls that would have previously been tied up at a single wreck call.”

The “new” truck is actually a 2000 model that is in excellent condition. Purchased new, the truck would have had a potential price tag of half a million dollars, making it an unrealistic goal for a rural department.

“When we finish outfitting it, we will have an excellent piece of equipment at right around $75,000 serving the Bailey area,” Wilson said. The combo truck is assigned to the new station.

Also in the works at the new station is the first fire training ground in Nash County outside of Rocky Mount. The new training ground is being assembled behind the new Bailey station and will include a two-story burn building and a two-part burn cell.

“We formed a partnership with Nash Community College to have a full training facility in the southern end of the county. That means departments like ours, Middlesex, Ferrells, Sims, and other area departments can have regular required training without having to take several trucks and most of the firemen out of the area to Wilson or Rocky Mount,” Wilson said. “This keeps manpower and equipment close to home and allows departments to be able to respond to their calls.”

The new training facility will also include a state of the art training room with large televisions and Wi-Fi.

“The facility will be open to all area departments for training, this is a real plus for this end of the county,” Wilson said. The training facility is scheduled to be completed and in operation by the end of this year.

The open house was also used to raise money to help restore the original 1949 Bailey Fire Department fire truck, which has been in storage for many years since being taken out of service.