Residents vote to abolish fire district
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, April 12, 2005
The Shelco Fire District will be abolished after area residents voted overwhelmingly last week for its elimination.
The measure to abolish the district passed 123-12. The following question was asked on the ballot: &uot;Shall the Shelco Fire and Emergency
Medical Rescue District be abolished? Yes/No.&uot;
The district runs north-south from the Shelby County Airport to the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Calera, and east-west from the county landfill on Highway 70 to Shelby Academy on Highway 22.
Probate Judge Patricia Yeager Fuhrmeister is expected to certify the results on Friday.
The city of Calera has covered the district since February 2004, when the city council voted to take over the district, which includes about 600 residents.
According to Calera Fire Chief Tommy Moon, there will be little if any changes to current coverage.
&uot;The only thing I know that might change would be with some of the people in the West Shelby coverage area that signed a contract with Shelco,&uot; Moon said. &uot;If something changes with that, I’m not sure.&uot;
Only a handful of buildings are in the area, which is off highways 22 and 107. The Calera Fire Department will continue to cover the area for now, according to Moon.
The fire department had already acquired Shelco’s equipment when the city council voted to take over the district last year.
The proposal was required to come before residents for a vote since Shelco was enacted by an act of the Legislature in 1960s. It was the county’s first volunteer fire department.