Peachtree Corners Fire Station Hosts Open House on Sunday

In recognition of its four decades serving Gwinnett, fire stations throughout the county are holding an open house Sunday from 2 - 4 p.m.

Peachtree Corners Station No. 4 will be part of the celebration and is inviting the community to come out for tours of the fire station and a look at how firefighters live and work.

The idea for a countywide fire department came about from the efforts of then District 2 Commissioner Ray Gunnin. It was just a few years after the death of seven people in 1967 in the Pinckneyville area that the county's fire department was formed. The first station opened in Norcross in January 1971 with two employees and a fire truck purchased from the City of Norcross. It added eight more employees soon after and began a six-week training program for new firefighters.

By 1980 the fire department had grown to 12 stations with 213 firefighters. Today thre are 30 stations spread throughout the county with 850 employees. Just last year Gwinnett Fire and Emergency Services responded to 63,000 emergency incidents.

The Gwinnett fire department covers 437 square miles and protects the county's population of some 800,000 residents.