In the late 1970s, when the Otto Fire Department was founded, a few dozen calls per year required the service of volunteer firefighters. Due to area growth and the influx of permanent and seasonal residents, last year’s calls topped 560. With an outdated building, garage doors that have become too tight for newer fire trucks, sleeping quarters needed, and other reasons, a new fire station is required to replace the one tucked off Hwy. 441 (Georgia Road) at Fire House Road.
“The majority of the calls we receive are medical,” said Otto Fire Department’s Chief Kevin Fountain. “But we have an aging population in this area and an increase in residents, so more calls are expected.”
Population in the Otto fire district is around 7,000, according to Fountain.
Besides medical calls, fires, drug-related, and sundry other emergencies, the slate of 34 volunteer firefighters and two paid fire firefighters (one of them being Fountain), answer numerous calls for downed trees, which came down by the dozens during September’s Hurricane Helene.
“When we come out of this station [on Fire House Road] and pull onto Georgia Road, the sight line around the curve [to the left] is bad, and these big trucks don’t have the best acceleration. With the new station, we will have better vision and better access to the highway.”
Groundbreaking on the new 15,000-square-foot, $3 million-plus new fire station will take place this month.
The new station’s construction site is where the original “town” of Otto existed. In the history book, “Two Centuries of Otto History 1789-1999,” by Ralph Henson, the 1909 “Act to Incorporate the Town of Otto, in Macon County” is included. It states that the “corporate limits of said town of Otto shall be as follows: Beginning at a point on the west bank of the Georgia Road, one fourth of a mile in a northerly direction from the center of the town of Otto, and running west one-fourth of a mile; thence running south one-half of a mile; thence running east to the west bank of the Little Tennessee River …”
Essentially, the town existed where the new Otto fire station will be built, and where Culpepper’s Otto Depot stands currently.
Presiding over the establishment of Otto in 1909 were men with locally familiar last names: Mayor I.T. Bradley, Commissioners A.L. McClure, William Holbrooks, and Charles H. McClure, and James Young.
In the town of Otto, before the mostly wooden buildings deteriorated due to age and were eventually torn down, were a few stores (including a Farm Federation store), a blacksmith shop, a few barns, a shuttle mill (where shuttles for weaving looms were made), and some houses. A post office was always located inside a store, until the designated post office was built that still stands in Otto across from Tessentee Road.
Until 1978, when Morris Stiwinter was one of the founding members of the first Otto Fire Department, neighbors relied on neighbors to help during a time of crisis. Stiwinter’s daughter, Kathy, began volunteering at a young age and eventually married Kevin Fountain. Thus, the couple has been serving the Otto community for almost four decades. Their daughter, Terri, also served as a volunteer firefighter for a while.
“We all do it because we want to serve the community,” said Fountain. “It’s that simple.”
He explained that even though almost all the Otto firefighters are volunteer, they must complete multiple hours (48) annually to become certified in fighting fires, rescue, emergency medical training, and more. Firefighters in authority must complete 60 hours and include the fire chief and assistant chief, the fire captain, the rescue captain, and three lieutenants. A fire chaplain is also often on the scene of an emergency.
“Having a better fire station … a place for volunteers to sleep if necessary, and 10 truck bays with larger doors will be a benefit to this community,” said Fountain, who worked as a grounds manager for 33 years at Rabun Gap Nacoochee School before becoming a full-time, paid fire chief in 2023. He does not plan to retire “anytime soon” because he loves his job and the people with whom he serves.
“We also really help each other out,” he added, explaining that “[firefighters] provide mutual aid to departments in Macon County and have traveled as far as Cullowhee … whatever stations need it.”
Funds for the new Otto Fire Department station have been allocated by the Macon County Commissioners and were accumulated as part of fire taxes paid by Otto residents. A construction loan has been secured. Fountain conveyed that the estimated build time is 12 to 18 months.
The community can get involved and become a small part of the permanent station by purchasing a 4-inch by 8-inch brick, for $25, that will be engraved with the purchaser’s name, date, short message, etc. and then used to make the sidewalk at the station. Anyone interested can email Fountain at [email protected] and visit https://donate.brickmarkers.com/otto.
Fountain encourages individuals to stop by the current station and ask questions about the new station, as well as let the staff check individuals’ blood pressure and blood glucose levels. The station at Fire House Road is typically open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.