On the Record: Government meetings for the week of April 19, 2021 roanoke.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from roanoke.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Company No. 7 is home again.
âThis is a great day,â said Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback. âWe built this station for the next 75 years of service to this community.â
The reconstruction of Fire Station No. 7 has been a closely watched and anticipated project in Roanoke.
The new firehouse, christened with a grand opening Wednesday, offers almost four times as much space and is better designed to meet modern needs â including, crucially, being able to properly house both male and female firefighters. That is something the prior, circa-1922 fire station couldnât do.
âI certainly want to thank our fire and EMS personnel,â said City Manager Bob Cowell, adding that while the historic station was of a great era it was no longer able to support the communityâs needs.
But it was the work that would keep him coming back for the next 40 years.
âI decided I wanted to do a ride-along and just got hooked,â he said.
âA lot of people think itâs the adrenaline, but youâre helping people. You know, youâre seeing people on one of the worst days of their lives and you get to make a difference, you get to give them closure, and help them through a stressful situation.â
Billy Altman signed up as a volunteer with the Roanoke Life Saving Crew in 1980. Courtesy of Roanoke Fire-EMS
Altman, now 57, signed up as a volunteer with the Roanoke Life Saving Crew in 1980. Heâd go on to be part of the first paid paramedic crew created by the city just five years later.
COVID-19 vaccination efforts going well among Roanoke Valley first responders
Another shipment will arrive next week
Tags:
Nearly 300 first responders got their first dose of the Moderna vaccine last week.
So far, no one has reported any allergic reactions, according to Roanoke City Fire Chief David Hoback. He said these vaccination efforts are preparing public health officials for mass distribution to the public.
“That’s a huge logistical issue, as you’re looking at having to.vaccinate, you know, half a million people in between us and Roanoke County and Botetourt and everything else, it was just, that’s going to be a huge undertaking.” Hoback said.