Isle of Wight County supervisors and firefighters held a groundbreaking ceremony on Jan. 10 for what will be an expansion of the Rushmere Volunteer Fire Department.

The supervisors voted in August to award a construction contract to Norfolk-based Pacemakers Inc., the lowest of four bidders at $1.59 million for a planned 1,116-square-foot addition that will house bunk rooms, men’s and women’s showers, and two vehicle bays totaling 2,866 square feet. One bay will house an Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue ambulance staffed with paid county emergency medical technicians.

According to Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Chief Garry Windley, the ambulance is currently being built. Meanwhile, the circa-1990 Rushmere Station off Old Stage Highway has since January 2024 been using an ambulance from the Isle of Wight County Volunteer Rescue Squad, and will continue to do so until the new ambulance arrives.

According to Assistant County Administrator Don Robertson, construction of the station expansion will begin in late January or early February and is expected to be completed by the same time next year.

That puts completion on track to coincide with the expected first-quarter 2026 opening of the 50-bed Riverside Smithfield Hospital, which broke ground in 2023 at Benns Church and Benns Grant boulevards. The hospital’s opening is expected to drastically reduce the amount of time Isle of Wight ambulances spend outside the county limits transporting patients to Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News or Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk, both of which can result in a half-hour or longer drive from Smithfield depending on traffic.

There were 207 emergency medical services responses from Rushmere, known as Station 30, in 2024, Robertson said. Isle of Wight Volunteer Rescue Squad Chief Brian Carroll said the total includes 162 calls originating within the Rushmere service district and the remaining 45 from outside the district.

Rushmere, an unincorporated community at the northernmost tip of the Isle of Wight-Surry county line, is home to just over 1,100 residents. Its fire and EMS service district spans north from the intersection of Wrenns Mill Road and Old Stage Highway to where Lawnes Creek meets the James River.

The Rescue Squad on Great Spring Road in Smithfield, known as Station 60, fielded another 2,665 calls in its primary response area, which spans most of the northern and central areas of the county.

The combined 2024 call volume from Isle of Wight and Rushmere was equal to slightly higher than 2023, Carroll said.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 8:47 p.m. on Jan. 14 to correct that the Rushmere station will eventually receive a new ambulance staffed with paid emergency medical technicians from Isle of Wight County Fire and Rescue. The ambulance currently stationed at Rushmere is one from the Isle of Wight County Volunteer Rescue Squad.