By JIM HARDIN
CNHI
FATE —
City and county officials, firefighters and residents gathered in downtown Fate on Monday to celebrate a “very special” and “historic” occasion — a groundbreaking ceremony for Fate Fire Rescue’s new home.
“We’re very excited,” said City Manager Vicki Mikel. “It’s a historical occasion.”
Mikel said the new fire station is one of the first new facilities that Fate has built since the mid-1950s, when City Hall was constructed.
“So, we’re really excited,” she added.
Mayor Bill Broderick called the afternoon event “a very special occasion for those of us that are involved in running the city.”
The new fire station will be a two-story building that will house about 9,900 square feet of space and cost approximately $1.5 million. The project is scheduled to be completed in January.
The formal program that preceded the ceremony featured Fire Chief Sean Fay, who said the event was “a very special day” for Rockwall County, Fate residents and members of Fate Fire Rescue.
“Today, we pause, reflect and we dedicate,” Fay told participants, who were seated under a tent or standing in the shade of a nearby building.
“Today, we break ground with building of a new fire station,” the fire chief added. “The building of this new station represents the turning of a page in a new chapter in a long history of the Fate Fire Department.”
Fay mentioned the many people who “have contributed in their own way to establishing, building and strengthening this fire department.”
“Whether you know this department as the Fate Volunteer Fire Department or simply the Fate Fire Department, or as we know it today, Fate Fire Rescue, it is the same department that has been here for more than 60 years. It is the same department that was established in 1950,” the chief said.
Fay gave a detailed history of the fire department, then focused his comments on what brought the audience together Monday.
“Recently, the mayor and city council answered the call for help on behalf of the men and women of the Fate Fire Department after the existing fire station had reached the end of its practical life and found itself in bad disrepair.”
He noted that the city council unanimously voted to build the new, modern fire station. He added that they also chose the “most fitting” location — the same location the volunteers chose more than 35 years ago, 128 E. Fate Main Place.
“In just a few short months, a new chapter will be written in the history of Fate, Texas,” Fay said. “The citizens of Fate will have their first new, modern, full-amenity fire station and this station should last for 50 years.
“The station will forever change the landscape of downtown Fate and should even be recognizable from I-30. The fire department has truly come a long way in 60 years.”
In closing, Fay said he wanted on behalf of the men and women of Fate Fire Rescue “to renew our dedication to the city of Fate.”
The fire department, he said, has a motto — “our community, our citizens, our department.”
“That is a statement about ownership,” the chief said. “Our members truly own the emergency response and fire prevention needs of the citizens of Fate, and it’s that ownership, pride and dedication that have always personified the Fate firefighter.”
Fay, and city and county representatives then participated in the ceremonial turning of the first shovels of dirt on the project. Firefighters themselves also took their turn with the shovels during the ceremony.
