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WEST POINT — The West Point Rotary Club had their Thursday meeting inside the city’s fire department building off Kia Parkway and took a tour of the building afterward.

The WPFD has been in the building since 2007. It’s a very comfortable place to work for West Point’s firefighters and paramedics. The ample bays house five fire trucks and an ambulance. The king of the fleet is a $1.2 million 100-foot ladder truck. Having such a truck in West Point was part of the deal that got Kia to come here in 2006. Fortunately, it has yet to be pressed into service in a major fire at KMMG or anywhere else in West Point’s jurisdiction, but it’s always best to be prepared if it’s ever needed.

Members of the club were taken on a tour of the fire station by Sgt. Didar Suleman, Firefighter/EMT John Murray and Firefighter/Paramedic William Claypoole.

Suleman has been with the department for the past 15 years, and Murray has been there for the past eight years. Chief Derrick Staley has been chief of the WPFD for the past three years and has been with the department for 25 years altogether. He succeeded long-time chief Mitt Smith when he retired in 2021.

Suleman was born in the Kurdish region of Iraq and fled to this country with his family after Saddam Hussein attacked their village with poison gas in the early 2000s. The family was adopted by the First Baptist Church, and most family members who moved here are still in the U.S. “I love being in the United States and especially in West Point,” Suleman said. “I would love to go back to Iraq and visit some day. I still have relatives there.”

The WPFD is headed by Chief Staley and Assistant Chief Levi Richardson. Firefighters work 24-hour shifts and are off 48 hours. There are five firefighters for each shift. Each firefighter arrives at 7:30 a.m. on the day they work and leave at 7:30 a.m. the next day. When an emergency call comes in, they are fully prepared to respond and are at the scene within six minutes.

Inside the station is a large dining area with a kitchen. Firefighters on duty take turns cooking their meals, and right next door there’s a gym where they can stay in tip-top physical shape by working out with weights and walking on treadmills.

Just outside the main building is a patio area with tables, chairs and grilling equipment (No doubt a popular place when the weather’s good).

There’s also an obstacle course outside and a helicopter landing pad should an emergency patient need too be airlifted. There’s a training tower within easy walking distance. There’s some wrecked vehicles near the tower where firefighters can practice extrication drills.

The Rotarians had lunch Thursday in the fire station’s training room. It’s normally a place for CPR classes and instruction on firefighting procedures and extrication from vehicles.

“We have a very good station, I think,” Suleman said.

There are seven bedrooms and two bathrooms inside the large building. Each firefighter has a separate room. Each room has a speaker that’s quite loud. “If a call ever comes in when you are resting it will wake you up,” Suleman said with a laugh. “It’s really loud. It scares you at times, but it gets you ready for what needs to be done. We take pride in being able to be where we are needed in six minutes.”

Inside the bay area is a large and sturdy-looking washing machine. “It’s made to give firefighter gear a thorough washing after we’ve been at a fire,” Firefighter Murray said. “It really gets out the smoke and the soot.”

West Point has had the longest serving fire department in the local area. At one time, the fire station was located on West 9th Street near the CSX Railroad main line. It was relocated to the opposite side of the tracks near the river when the new city hall was built. The move to Kia Parkway was an important part of KMMG locating in West Point, but the fire station is ideally located to serve the needs of a growing community, and as Sgt. Suleman says, it’s at a place where firefighters can be at any scene in West Point within six minutes.

 

A VISIT TO THE FIRE STATION — The West Point Rotary Club held their Thursday meeting inside the West Point Fire Department building on Kia Parkway. After lunch, they were taken on a tour of the building by Sgt. Didar Suleman, Firefighter/Paramedic William Claypoole and Firefighter/EMT John Murray. Shown above, from left, are Monroe Smith, Past President Daniel Meadows, Terri Kelley, Jody Elmore, Firefighter Murray, Sgt. Suleman, Joe Hill, Edmund Glover, Greg Duffey, Bill Gladden, Firefighter Claypoole, President Stephen Collins and Dr. Joe Downs.