Maybe you forgot.
The need had been there for years. The former headquarters had been in the basement of the Center Wheeling Parking Garage since 1978, and the structure was leaky, frigid, and uncomfortable for leadership and for the first responders.
And Larry Helms was not afraid to explain it to you, me, and to anyone who asked, especially while he served as Wheeling’s fire chief from 2006-2021. The 35-year veteran of the city’s fire department battled blazes, saved lives, and worked daily to keep citizens safe, and anytime the topic of a new headquarters was mentioned, Helms would tell you about his vision.
And that dream came true today in East Wheeling, but not without trials and tribulations.
- A proposed hike in property taxes was placed on the ballot back in 2018, but it failed to receive approval from 60 percent of those who voted. (It received over 53 percent.)
- Much controversy erupted when Wheeling’s City Council adopted a $2 per-week “user fee” tax on all employees working at businesses within the borders of the Friendly City.
- Following the August 2022 groundbreaking for the $9 million fire headquarters on the corner of 17th and Wood streets, the general contractor – PCS & Build LLC of Cleveland, Ohio – filed bankruptcy and delayed the construction by nearly a year.
- City Manager Bob Herron then found Great Lakes Contracting, and that outfit completed building the department’s headquarters.
None of it mattered to Chief Helms. He always believed in the need for the heroes and for the community they protect 24 hours each day and seven days every week, and he was confident that such a facility would help provide even greater protection than the Wheeling Fire Department already provides.
A number of folks – like Herron, current Fire Chief Jim Blazier and his staff, Assistant City Manager Bill Lanham, and City Councilor Dave Palmer and his Council colleagues – carried this project to its completion, but initially it was Helms who met with residents and explained why it was time to fight fire with a new Fire HQ.
So, thank you, Chief Larry Helms, for your impressive dedication and incredible guidance during your firefighting career, and for your continued support for everything Wheeling.
