A grand opening ceremony and open house for the community is scheduled for the Berea Fire and Rescue station located at 20 Sebring Drive in southern Stafford off of Route 17 on Saturday, June 21, 2008, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

The ceremony will start with remarks by the Chairman of the Stafford Board of Supervisors, George Schwartz, Fire and Rescue Chief Rob Brown and Willie G. Shelton, Executive Director of the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. Afterwards will be a traditional “hose uncoupling,” to formally open the station. The open house will start soon after with many activities for citizens including tours of the station and emergency apparatus.  

In addition to the tours, free vision and hearing screenings from the Lions Sight and Hearing van will be offered to visitors. Information will be available to demonstrate how to be prepared during emergencies and what to include in an emergency preparedness kit for the home and car. Also, computers will be available to sign interested individuals up for Stafford Alert, a text messaging based emergency notification system that sends alerts to electronic devices including cell phones, PDAs, and pagers as well as e-mail accounts. Information will also be available on Stafford’s Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT Team, which teaches people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.

The open house will run from 10:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be served throughout the day.

The Berea facility is Stafford’s first County-built fire and rescue station. The 15,000 square-foot fire and rescue station features three vehicle bays, dorms for fire and rescue staff, a kitchen, a specially-designed ventilated tower to dry hoses and other equipment, and a training room. Construction by Chicago-based contractor Teng & Associates, Inc., started in August 2006 and was completed earlier this year.

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