Combined Fire, EMS, Police Station Considered in Bluefield, WV

Jan. 29—bluefield — Public input is being sought on a plan for creating a new Bluefield facility serving as a combined center for emergency medical services as well as the city's fire department and police department.

The Bluefield Board of Directors announced Tuesday that in collaboration with the Bluefield Rescue Squad, the city is exploring the idea of building a new facility housing local EMS, the Bluefield Fire Department and the Bluefield Police Department.

"We want to ensure this project best serves our community, and your feedback is crucial," according to the announcement posted Monday morning on the city's Facebook page. A link to the survey was also posted on the announcement.

City Manager Cecil Marson spoke about the survey Tuesday during a Board of Directors meeting.

"There's one other survey you're going to be seeing on Text.gov," he said. "But we are asking for some community feedback on our fire station, police station, and the rescue squad. So there is a public survey with that and we would like to hear some feedback from the community as we start to go down this road of looking at potential locations in the city, we would love to have some feedback from the community as we go through that process."

The online survey asks the public how often they visit the current Bluefield Rescue Squad location along Stadium Drive and the police and fire department locations at Bluefield City Hall. Participants are also being asked what sort of amenities they would like to see such as waiting areas, a meeting room or rooms, signs leading to the facility and other details such as the agencies' response times during emergencies.

The city announced the combined facility project back in July 2024 when a legal advertisement for architectural and engineering consulting firms to aid in designing and constructing a campus that would serve the Bluefield Rescue Squad, the Bluefield Police Department and the Bluefield Fire Department was published in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

City Engineer Curtis French said then the idea behind the campus is to relocate the city's fire and police departments as well as emergency services to a more centralized location in the city so they can have quicker response times.

Some preliminary work had been done and different locations for a campus such as North Street and Stadium Drive were being considered, but a site has not been chosen.

The fire department and police department have been needing room for expansion since both have outgrown their quarters at Bluefield City Hall. The Bluefield Rescue Squad, which is located next door to Mitchell Stadium off Stadium Drive, can have problems sending ambulances on calls when events like the Beaver-Graham Game or the annual Holiday of Lights at Bluefield City Park create traffic backups.

In other action Tuesday, the Bluefield Board of Directors unanimously passed two resolutions in memory of two outstanding community members, Buster Large and Bob Deskins. The proclamations celebrate their lasting impact on the city and region.

Coach Large's brother Mark Large and sister Debra Fortenberry accepted the resolution on behalf of their family. The family of Bob Deskins was unable to attend.

According to the proclamation for Charlie L. "Buster" Large Jr., "Large was a well loved teacher and coach who devoted his life to teaching and mentoring generations of students; and Whereas under the tutelage of Buster Large, the Bluefield High School basketball team won two state championships and appeared in five state championship games."

According to the resolution for Willard "Bob" Deskins Jr., "Desksin was a well-known and respected businessman and community leader, who owned and operated the Deskins Grocery Store on College Avenue for many decades and after retirement from that enterprise started a new and successful candy business, which continues to operate in the city of Bluefield."

— Managing Editor

Charles Owens

contributed to this story.

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