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Coffee County Rescue Squad is working to rebuild its facilities and equipment after a fire destroyed the station and much of its equipment in December.

Chief Neil Simmons told the Heath, Welfare and Recreation Committee on May 21 that the building has been torn down to the steel supports and those beams will soon be repainted before the metal exterior will be added.

“I don’t like to spend money unless I have to,” Simmons said.

Members of the squad had volunteered each weekend to remove the fire-damaged material. Next Volunteer Paint will come in to resurface the metal beams.

Simmons said that all the vehicles stored in the building at the time were a loss, but that insurance has covered the purchase of new and upgraded trucks.

The squad’s 1996 Ford 350 truck was replaced with a 2015 International.

“We plan on adding a Cascade system to refill fire department’s air tanks on the scene,” Simmons said.

The squad was able to add a 2012 550 Ford with only 15,000 miles on it from the McMinn County Rescue Squad.   That truck was used as extrication truck by McMinn County.

The squad also found a 2017 Ford 350 with 31,000 miles.

“We’ve been looking for trucks since December. We’re going to end up with better trucks,” Simmons said. “That’s not just rushing out and buying something. We looked and look and found what we thought would benefit us several years down the road.”

“We’ll be back bigger and better,” Simmons said.