When Roxann Keane walked into the East Rockingham Fire Department Substation on Saturday, she received an unexpected surprise.
The station, located on Home Place Road in the southern region of the county, now bears a plaque in memory of her late husband, Joey Keane.
Joey Keane was a member of the department’s board of directors from 1996 until his death in 2020.
The department’s open house on May 17 was to officially dedicate the substation in Keane’s honor.
“He was very instrumental in getting this building built,” said Mike Burns, current vice president of the board, adding that Keane was hoping the substation would be complete before he retired and moved to the beach.
Ground was broken for the substation on Dec. 21, 2022 and the first call was run on Nov. 10, 2023.
“Unfortunately…Joey never got to see the building built,” Burns said, acknowledging the plaque on the wall.
Burns said the vision for the substation dates back three decades.
“We wanted to put a station out in this area for a good while,” Burns said. “One of the biggest reasons was because the folks that live out here were paying high insurance premiums. Some of them couldn’t even get insurance because they lived so far away from the main station.”
The substation is about 5.5 miles south of the department’s main station on Airport Road.
East Rockingham’s fire district encompasses the area south of Mill Road, between U.S. 1 and Battley Dairy Road.
Burns said the department wasn’t getting any funding for the southern part of the district because it wasn’t part of the tax base.
Eventually, the department was able — with help from the Richmond County Board Commissioners — to have the tax district incorporated with the fire district, Burns said.
Former chief Mitch Watson found the land and Southern Builders won the bid to construct the substation.
“We now have a nice station…to help cover folks in this area,” Burns said, adding that it also helps some residents in Cordova’s district because of the mutual aid agreement between the two departments. “It’s a win-win for everybody.”
In order for the substation to get the 9s ISO rating from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Burns said the department had to get another truck — which came from the Mountain Creek Volunteer Fire Department in the northwestern corner of the county.
Commissioner Jamie Gathings was among those in the crowd.
“I’m glad to see this,” he said, recalling his aunt’s house in the area burning down. “If this had been here 30 years ago, it probably would have been saved.”
The department will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.
