Goochland County breaks ground on Station 8 in Sandy Hook to bolster emergency response

Goochland County officials and community members broke ground on Station 8 in Sandy Hook, a new full-service fire-rescue facility that county leaders said will be staffed around the clock with both an engine and an ambulance and a mix of career and volunteer personnel.

"We dedicate this project to the safety of our county," said Pastor Adlai Adkins of Chief Cornerstone Church during an invocation that opened the ceremony. County leaders described the event as the culmination of decades of local advocacy dating to the 1970s.

Neil Spoonhower, District 2 supervisor and vice chair of the Goochland County Board of Supervisors, said the new station fills ‘‘a hole’’ in county coverage that for years produced longer response times and even affected homeowners insurance in the area. "When I moved over the hill 25 years ago, I was shocked at how hard it was just to get homeowners insurance because there wasn't a fire station anywhere by," Spoonhower said, and urged residents to consider volunteering.

Spoonhower told attendees that funding full-time staffing will add roughly $1.5 million a year to the county’s operating costs. He framed the expense as an investment in response times and public safety.

A representative of Goochland County Fire Rescue reviewed the department’s recent temporary operations in Sandy Hook, saying the county began temporary ambulance deployments during roundabout construction in 2023, expanded to 24-hour ambulance staffing on Feb. 14, 2025, and that the temporary unit had handled more than 1,620 responses through the end of March. The speaker said the temporary presence has already shortened response times and broadened the types of calls served, from EMS to structure fires.

The department credited HBA Architectural and Engineering for the station’s design and said the county awarded the construction contract to Gulf Seaboard General Contractors. County staff described the planned station as including three drive-through apparatus bays, living quarters, a community/training room, exercise facilities and contamination-control zones intended to limit secondary contamination from calls.

Officials said the project site totals just over eight acres after parcel purchases completed between 2022 and 2025, and county leaders expect to return for a ribbon-cutting and station walkthrough in roughly a year once construction is complete.

The ceremony included recognition of past and present advocates who pushed for the station, including former supervisors Dr. James Bowles Sr., William Quarles and Manuel Alvarez, and concluded with a ceremonial shovel-turning, photos and light refreshments for attendees.