By Miles Layton

HERTFORD — The Durants Neck Volunteer Fire Department has paid off its new main station and substation 12 years ahead of schedule, marking a major financial and operational milestone for the rural fire district and the community that helped build it.

“We recently paid off our new main station and our new substation 12 years ahead of schedule,” Fire Chief Robert Eure said.

The early payoff closes the books on a long-planned construction effort that began years before ground was ever broken. The two-building project carried a total cost of $984,000, according to Eure, and was launched in 2021. Both stations officially went online in 2024 to serve Perquimans County.

Both facilities — the Durants Neck main station and the Durants Neck substation — operate under the Durants Neck Volunteer Fire Department and share the same official designation: Station 8.

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For the all-volunteer department, the accomplishment is tied directly to local support rather than a single funding windfall.

“We’re all volunteers and all of the building proceeds came from our community over a ten year period,” Eure said.

The new facilities have already helped elevate the department’s standing with the North Carolina Department of Insurance, which evaluates fire departments based on their ability to provide protection to the areas they serve. Those evaluations directly affect property owners’ insurance rates.

“Yes our fire district has a ISO rating of a four now before half of our district was not under a rated fire department due to the size of it,” Eure said.

He explained that the state’s system rewards departments that are better equipped and strategically positioned.

“North Carolina department of insurance rates each department by their ability to provide fire protection to their communities,” Eure said. “The lower the rating the better their insurance coverage.”

Geography has long been one of the department’s biggest challenges. The Durants Neck fire district begins at the intersection of Union Hall Road and New Hope Road and stretches all the way to the Albemarle Sound, covering nearly 12 miles from end to end.

That wide footprint made response times uneven for years and underscored the need for multiple facilities.

The new Durants Neck main station — located at the corner of New Hope and Cove roads — represents a dramatic upgrade from the department’s original building. The facility measures approximately 9,500 square feet, nearly three times the size of the original 3,500-square-foot station built in 1980.

The need for a larger station had been evident for decades.

Eure said the department realized it needed a new station “about 20 years ago,” when it had to special-order a fire truck simply to fit inside the old building.

The expanded footprint allows the department to properly house modern fire engines, which have grown significantly in size, and to support a growing volunteer roster. Covered space along the back of the building provides room for outdoor maintenance and equipment cleaning. Inside, a meeting room equipped with televisions and whiteboards supports training, while a mechanical room provides space for a washing machine to clean firefighters’ protective gear.

The Durants Neck substation, also designated as Station 8, measures about 3,000 square feet and houses one fire engine along with a small meeting room. Its construction significantly reduced response times in the Land’s End, Little River Shores and Muddy Creek Road areas.

Before the substation came online, firefighters responding to calls in those distant sections of the district often had to drive back to New Hope to retrieve equipment before heading to an emergency.

“We are planning for 50 years down the road,” Eure said.

That long-term outlook factored into the department’s decision to borrow money for the substation while continuing to rely on community fundraising to eliminate the debt.

“We borrowed some money for our satellite station, but our community has been real good to us in raising money to pay for it,” Eure said.

County funding plays a limited but important role in the department’s operations. Eure said Perquimans County funding is primarily used to contract for fire services across six areas — Hertford, Winfall, Belvidere-Chappell Hill, Bethel, Durants Neck and Inter-County — and is just enough to keep those stations operating.

The completion and early payoff of the stations represents a nearly full-circle moment for Eure personally. His father was a charter member of the Durants Neck Volunteer Fire Department when it was incorporated in October 1980. Though his father has since retired from active service, the department he helped establish has grown far beyond its original footprint.

From a single small station built more than four decades ago to a modern two-station system with an improved insurance rating, the department’s evolution reflects both changing demands and sustained community commitment.

Eure said the improved ISO rating is particularly meaningful for residents who may never step inside a fire station but will feel the impact through insurance savings and faster emergency response.

“Yes our fire district has a ISO rating of a four now before half of our district was not under a rated fire department due to the size of it,” he said.

With both Station 8 facilities paid off well ahead of schedule, the department is now positioned to focus future fundraising and planning on equipment, training and long-term sustainability rather than construction debt.

For a volunteer department serving a large rural district, Eure said the achievement belongs as much to the community as it does to the firefighters who answer the calls.

“We’re all volunteers and all of the building proceeds came from our community over a ten year period,” he said.

As the department looks ahead, the two stations stand not only as functional infrastructure, but as symbols of what sustained local support can accomplish — from the intersection of Union Hall and New Hope roads to the shores of the Albemarle Sound, and for decades to come.