The Fire Station That Didn't Go Dark: Inside Broad River Fire Department’s Solar Microgrids
Video Credit: NC-based Nelson Morlock, Melodic Sorbet Productions
Before, keeping Broad River Fire Department's Shumont Substation running during a power outage meant firing up loud, polluting gas generators that needed constant refueling. Now, a solar microgrid powers the station, and has created a resilience hub that's no longer entirely reliant on the main electrical grid, or gas generators. Community members can rest assured that they have a reliable place to go for clean water, emergency communications, and refuge when facing a natural disaster. Solar power serves as an integral tool to keep the fire department up and running.
Bruce Cook, Assistant Fire Chief at the Broad River Fire Department, has lived in this part of Western North Carolina for more than 50 years. He took our film crew on a ride-along to show what changed when Footprint Project, the WNC Long Haul Recovery and Resilience Fund, Sundance Power Systems, and Fortress Power installed a permanent solar microgrid at the Shumont Substation.
In collaboration with the Land of Sky Regional Council and the NC Department of Environmental Quality, we also donated a solar trailer (aka Power Bee)—through our Beehive Microgrid™ program—to support the fire department's first-response efforts and daily operations.
Building our Beehive
Broad River's Power Bee is one piece of a $5 million effort to bring solar power to up to 24 sites across six counties hit hard by Hurricane Helene — fire stations, libraries, and food banks, the places communities rely on most when the power goes out. This funding will also establish two mobile Beehive Microgrid™ hubs (aka Hives): one for Western, and one for Eastern North Carolina.
With a Little Help from Our Friends
During an educational workshop we hosted for dream.org’s Green Reentry Incubator, we worked alongside members of the incubator to install solar panels on Broad River’s Power Bee. That solar trailer now lives permanently at one of Broad River's fire stations.
In the video, Footprint Project's Jamie Trowbridge explains how the technology works, while Cook shows what it means day to day — a fire station, and a community that doesn't go dark.