Trussville Fire & Rescue

When you leave Birmingham traveling north on Interstate 59, in about ten minutes you will arrive at a place which has a lot to offer both citizens and visitors alike. This place is the City if Trussville. The City of Trussville is a suburban community that lies on the eastern border of the city of Birmingham, Alabama. Although, a relatively small municipality of about 27 square miles, the City of Trussville is part of the metropolitan Birmingham area and although not completely urbanized, it is far from a rural community. There is a large movie theater complex, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Best-Buy, H.H. Craig, Belk, J.C. Penney, Home Depot, Book-A-Million and just too many retail stores to name. We also have many good eating establishments, such as; Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Logan’s, Longstar Steakhouse, Cracker Barrel and Cajun Steamer just to name a few. This is not counting the vast number of fast food places. Because of the proximity of the city to the City of Birmingham, Talladega Super Speedway, Barber Motorsports Park, and the intersection of Interstate 59 and Interstate 459, we have been chosen to be the home of several hotel and inns. These lodging facilities would include the Hilton Garden Inn, Courtyard Marriott, Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Inn and the Jameson Inn. The City of Trussville has much more to offer that just a retail section. Up the north end of US Highway 11, this is the main thoroughfare through the city; you will find an industrial park. This park contains and is surrounded by some national and international manufacturing companies, such as; Amerex Corporation, McPherson Oil and GR Manufacturing.
The City of Trussville is also home to 19,933 residences. These residences are extremely proud of the thriving city, which still has the feel of a small town. The residents are especially proud of the newly formed school system. The school system consists of a primary school, intermediate school, Jr. High School and a high school. The high school was built in 2008 and is still the largest high school in the State of Alabama. As large as the City of Trussville has become, and all of the vast amount of conveniences it holds, it has not always been this way. As a matter of fact, it is a long way from the Trussville that much of the residence grew up with. However, the history of Trussville goes back even farther than that.
Native Americans fished and hunted along the Cahaba's banks long before the white man settled in North America. But with the surrender of Creek land in 1814, white settlers flowed into Alabama to build homes by its rivers and use the bounty of its fields and forests. Among them was Warren Truss, a North Carolinian. Truss settled in the area sometime before 1820, acquiring 1,000 acres of land and building a mill on the Cahaba. Soon the nearby settlement became known as "Truss".
For several decades, Trussville was a rural, rather isolated community, and farming was the major occupation. Although the tiny hamlet sent a contingent of officers and men to fight for the Confederacy, the Civil War directly touched Trussville only toward the end of the conflict. According to Trussville “Through the Years”, by Carol and Earl Massey, Union Gen. John T. Croxton led a raiding party to Trussville early in 1865 to burn the Confederate storehouse. They succeeded, but the people of Trussville put out the fire and salvaged much of the burned grain and flour.
Formal education was a little slow in coming to Trussville, although the literacy rate was above average for central Alabama in 1860. In 1869, Professor R. G. Hewitt founded Trussville Academy, a log structure housing 100 students. Hewitt made a lasting impression on the community. The middle school and high school in Trussville still carry his name.
Railroad service came after the Civil War, opening up industrial development in the 1880s. During the last part of the 19th and the early 20th centuries, a furnace producing pig iron succeeded in Trussville under various ownerships.
Envisioning a flourishing new city, a group of local residents organized the Trussville and Cahaba River Land Company. But the anticipated boom along the Cahaba never occurred. Instead, the city that succeeded from the iron and steel industry was Birmingham.
During the Depression, part of the government's economic recovery program was to allocate land suitable for low-rent housing and part-time farms. One such location was to be in the Trussville area, but further investigation showed that the 615 acres of "Slag Heap Village" were unsuitable for farming.
However, the land was suitable for suburban housing. Fired by the vision of project manager W. H. Kestler, the "Cahaba Project" went up, opening in April 1938. Homes were sturdily built, with indoor plumbing, running water, electricity and amenities rare at that time in much of Alabama. The project included 287 residential units - apartments, duplexes and single-family homes. The government also built a high school and cooperative store, interspersing the area with malls, sidewalks, paved streets and parks.
Trussville children in the 50s, enjoyed an uncomplicated, small-town life. Children entertained themselves by walking up and down the street playing on the Mall, and swimming in the Cahaba. There was a library located in the commissary. Most families had only one car or no vehicle, but a bus went daily into Birmingham in the morning and came back that afternoon.
A special charm of the Project today is the canopy of stately trees that lines Chalkville Road and adjacent streets. Many were planned in the 30s and 40s. Most of the Project was originally devoid of trees, because the area had been farmland before the government acquired it. The Project, like many modern subdivisions, had its own special entrance. The gazebo at the corner of Main Street and Parkway Drive, a long-time Trussville landmark, was part of such an entrance.
On June 10, 1947, the town of Trussville was incorporated, absorbing both the Cahaba Village and "old Trussville." Early in 1948, the government deeded all park property to the town.
Trussville grew, but quietly and fairly slowly in the 50s. General suburban sprawl and the completion of I-59 created more growth during the 60s and 70s. However, Trussville was still a well-kept secret.
Like an adolescent in a growth spurt, the city expanded in all directions during a frenzied period in 1985.
"It started when Birmingham was doing a lot of annexing. They tried to annex our new (Hewitt-Trussville) high school, which was less than a year old," says City Clerk Lynn Porter. Fired by this move, the late Charles Grover, then the mayor, and city council members announced their own plan and policy of annexation. From mid-May through the end of the year, the council held annexation meetings several times weekly. Frequent annexation continued into 1987. When the dust settled, Trussville had tripled its land mass and doubled its population.
Things haven't slowed down since. From 3,500 residents shown in the 1980 census, Trussville's population has grown to 19,933 in 2010. This growth is expected to continue at a fast clip.
Attracted by good schools, a safe environment and friendly atmosphere, Trussville has become a drawing card for young, middle-income families. Many have gravitated to older homes in the Cahaba Project, often upgrading or remodeling them. Numerous subdivisions and residential areas have also sprung up within its boundaries.
The city now extends from I-459 northward to the Jefferson County line, and takes in a sizable area west of I-59. To meet the needs of Trussville's growth, restaurants, retail and service establishments (including two major shopping centers built in 2000) have sprung up. A major, 120-acre complex for youth sports was completed in the mid-1990s. The public library completed a major expansion in 1997, and a senior citizens activity center opened in 1999.
Gene Melton, mayor of Trussville since 1996, says the city is facing the challenge of managing this growth, while maintaining its unique charm. "After all, one thing that attracts people to Trussville is its small-town atmosphere," he says. Long ago, Trussville adopted as its motto, "Gateway to happy living." For old-timers and newcomers, the motto still rings true.
The origins of Trussville Fire and Rescue date back to the incorporation of the City of Trussville in 1947. At that time it was known as Trussville Volunteer Fire Department. It remained a volunteer department until the hiring of 6 paid staff and a fire chief in 1998. In the 1960’s Trussville Volunteer Fire Department, realizing a need in the community and added emergency medical response to its responsibilities, noting that the fire service was well suited for handling that task. They organized a BLS response for the citizens of Trussville and began the first fire department based EMS/Transport agency in our area. The department continued providing volunteer fire suppression and emergency medical services for the citizens of Trussville through the 1970’s and began providing ALS services in the mid 1980’s. In the 1990’s, as with most areas, it became very clear that the fire department would have to once again expand its services to include hazardous materials response and mitigation. The year 1998, brought about major changes within the department. A paid fire chief was hired along with 6 paid firefighters (2 per 24 hour shift) to supplement the volunteer department. Trussville Volunteer Fire Department at that time became Trussville Fire and Rescue Department. Soon after in 1999, a second station was opened and more firefighters were hired to staff the new station in an attempt to keep up with the phenomenal increases in call volume and city-wide growth. Currently the department operates three stations with 30 line personnel, 4 staff personnel, and a host of volunteers operating an Aerial Platform Unit, an Aerial Ladder Unit, 3 Engine Companies, a Brush Fire Suppression Unit, 3 ALS Rescue / Transports, 1 Hazardous Materials Response Unit, a Swift Water Rescue Unit, a Dive Rescue/Recovery Team, and multiple Technical Rescue Units which are dedicated to multiple different rescue needs. The department also sponsors a boyscout troop and an explorer post along with performing several additional public services; such as child passenger safety seat installations and in school public education programs. In 2009, the Trussville Fire and Rescue Department created a standalone law enforcement agency within the fire department that is responsible for investigating the commission of offenses related to arson or fire prevention and protection, and has the authority to make arrests and issue citations. This unit is named the Trussville Fire & Explosion Investigation Unit and has its own designation through the Federal Bureau of Investigations.