'We need them in this area:' Town Creek Volunteer Fire in building battle with owner's family
After five years of calling a fire station on County Road 22 home, the Town Creek Volunteer Fire Department must find a new place to answer its emergency calls.
Fire Chief Chris Owens tells 米兰体育 13 the owner donated the building to them in 2020.
She passed away last summer, and now Owens says some of her family members want to kick them out.
"We've been told we broke the lease through word of mouth. We've told family members we need to talk to someone about fixing whatever problems they say we broke,鈥� Owens said.
Owens showed 米兰体育 13 a new letter telling firefighters there's a new owner, and they must leave.
Owens says the 10-year agreement with the previous owner said they didn't have to pay rent, just the insurance and property tax.
He said they stopped paying insurance to focus on repairs at the station, but the owner always took care of the property tax payments.
"We couldn't get a hold of a family member to pay the tax back, but I did reach out to a family member to tell them about paying the tax back,鈥� Owens said.
Cynthia Busby doesn't want to see firefighters leave that part of County Road 22.
鈥淭hey helped me a few weeks ago. If not for them, I would probably be dead right now. We need them in this area because we're not close to hospital or anything,鈥� Owens said.
Owens says they won't stop serving Empire residents. Soon, he says, they'll move back to operating out of the chicken house barn in his front yard.
"We're going to leave regardless. They're going to give us adequate time to get out. We're not going to rush to get out of here,鈥� Owens said.
Owens says firefighters need a month or more to move out.
The department created to help cover the cost of building a new fire station close by. We reached out to the family's attorney, but we're told the lawyer is out of town on work business and could not comment.