Houston County breaks ground on new HEMA warehouse 

HOUSTON COUNTY — On Monday, Jan. 5, Houston County held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Houston County Emergency Management Agency (HEMA) warehouse located right behind the Houston County Fire Department Headquarters. 

Chairman Dan Perdue said this warehouse is funded through the General Fund Reserve, meaning it is mostly funded by property tax dollars. 

“I appreciate the tax payers of Houston County placing their trust and willingness in us to manage those dollars as efficiently and as effectively as we possibly can [as well as] their trust in us to maintain a healthy and appropriate General Fund Reserve,” he said. 

Perdue added that this location of the HEMA Warehouse will hold more space and will be more accessible. 

“As we move around to other emergencies across the state and region, this puts us closer to the interstate and major thoroughfares where we can get to those disasters faster,” he said. 

Perdue thanked Houston County Fire Chief Chris Stoner for his roles as Fire Chief and HEMA Director. 

“I can tell you, there’s a lot of confidence placed in him and his ability to manage emergencies and disasters appropriately, and we appreciate the wisdom, knowledge and the care you bring to that role,” he said. 

According to Stoner, the warehouse will have six bays, each separated by 10 feet, allowing palletized storage between them. 

“This means we’ll be able to pull vehicles through, unload equipment no matter the weather condition, palletize and store it appropriately and move that equipment or store it when our community does have those needs,” he explained.

Stoner thanked his team, the Board of Commissioners and previous Boards for their unwavering support. He said they have always had tremendous support in Houston County, which cannot be understated. 

“I have the fortunate ability to travel the state and meet with many other EMA directors and fire chiefs and hear horror stories of their lack of support from their area and jurisdictions,” he said. “I feel blessed and we are truly blessed here in Houston County to have elected leaders in place that truly care about their organizations and their citizens that they serve. That care flows down to us and public safety and allows us to serve our citizens better as well.” 

Stoner shared that the resources devoted to an event such as Hurricane Helene are tremendous. He said their current warehouse isn’t as accessible, and it wasn’t designed that way. 

“[Accessibility] is something that we’ve learned from these disasters is ease of use and access and quickly being able to bring supplies in and push supplies back out to the community that really need it,” he said. “Being centrally located in the county puts a better focus on not only the unincorporated areas but also our municipalities that EMA serves.”