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Caldwell County opens Cages Mountain EMS base, warehouse as FEMA reimbursements return $9M for Hurricane Helen response
Summary
County officials reported April 27 that the newly opened Cages Mountain EMS base has been operational for a week with roughly 40 calls and that an 89,000 sq ft Hickory Springs warehouse is online; staff also said FEMA obligated about $9 million to reimburse county Hurricane Helen expenditures, including roughly $6.1 million for debris removal.
Caldwell County officials reported April 27 that a new Cages Mountain EMS base and a large county warehouse are both online, and county staff said FEMA has obligated roughly $9 million to reimburse county expenditures tied to Hurricane Helen.
County Manager Shane Fox said the Cages Mountain base at 1901 Connley Springs Road, a project discussed for nearly two decades, went into service the previous Monday. "We put this base online last Monday, so we are now seven days in," Fox said. "As of last week's call, we had already ran 40 calls out of that base."
Fox said the EMS base project cost totaled about $5.2 million, including land purchase, renovation and an addition, with the town of Cages Mountain contributing $500,000. The base includes six vehicle bays, space for two crews and three full-scale training mock rooms (hospital ER, in-home living room and ambulance box) designed to improve paramedic training and on‑the‑job realism.
The county also purchased an approximately 89,000-square-foot Hickory Springs warehouse (about six acres) for $2.4 million. Fox said state appropriated funds covered the acquisition and that the site is being used to centralize equipment and emergency supplies that were previously spread across the county. The Western regional emergency management office is renting space there and that rent helps pay utilities, Fox said.
On disaster reimbursement, Fox credited Recovery Team leader Susette Bradshaw and the county's recovery team for securing FEMA public-assistance obligations. "To date, FEMA has reimbursed or distributed a little bit more than five billion dollars in North Carolina," he said, and summarized Caldwell County work as 16 FEMA public assistance projects totaling about $9 million in expenditures, including approximately $6.1 million for debris removal, private property work of about $1.1 million and other emergency measures. He said most county projects are obligated and near closeout.
Commissioners and staff framed the warehouse and EMS base as long-sought improvements to the county's disaster response capability and praised staff and state partners for support in funding both projects without using local taxpayer debt.
Speakers quoted in this article are Shane Fox and Susette Bradshaw.
