Fire Districts 8 and 7 dedicated new stations Saturday, naming them after individuals who donated the land.

District 8, which serves the Waldheim and Abita Springs area, dedicated the John T. Prats Memorial Station on Louisiana Highway 59 Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon, Fire District 7, which serves the rural center of the parish near Talisheek, dedicated the Paul A. Lea Memorial Station on Louisiana Highway 434.

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Danny Prats, son of the late John T. Prats, shared the story of how his brother, Wayne Prats, came about donating the 1.2 acres of land needed for the new station, which sits near the intersection of La. 59 and Louisiana Highway 21.

He said several years ago he was clearing away the land for what is now John T. Prats Road when he set a series of fires in pits to burn the debris.

Fire Chief Gary Mendow came out and informed that he could not leave with the fire still burning, and Prats was forced to spend the night, watching the fires and sleeping in his truck.

While he was out there, Mendow also told Prats that he really needed some land for a new station in that area, but, Prats said jokingly, Mendow did just want any piece of land; he had a particular lot in mind

“Gary said it had to be a corner lot and he preferred it to be on the Abita side,” Danny Prats said. “Lucky thing Gary is a nice guy.”

The piece in question was located on Wayne Prats’ part of the inheritance.

Wayne Prats agreed to donate the land in 2004, but soon after Hurricane Katrina hit, and plans for the new station were put on hold.

Fire Board Commissioner Greg Lemons said it has taken a while, but because of the donation made by the Prats family, the residents and property in district 8 are receiving better protection.

“Without donations like this the department wouldn’t be what it is,” Lemons said. “This puts equipment and personnel as close as possible to the people in the district.”

“The people in this district have always supported the fire department,” he said.

The station currently does not have living quarters in it, but the district has purchased a mobile home, which has been placed next to the station building and provides sleeping and living quarters for the firemen on duty at the station. This station, which is located on what was once part of the old Prats’ Dairy, brings the total number of stations in the district to three. A supervisor will be station at this location along with one apparatus to speed up the response time for fires on the northwestern section of the district.

Perry Junek, deputy chief for district 7, said his district was looking for some land to build a station in the Talisheek area in 2005 when the late John Brady, who was a member of the fire board at the time, approached the late Paul Lea, who owned land across the highway from Money Hill, and asked for a donation.

Lea donated approximately 1 acre, but the bids to building the station came back too high. The district did have the funds needed to do complete the dirt work for the site.

This is where the late David Goodyear stepped in, donating $50,000 worth of dirt work and dirt.

The station is now built, but plans are underway to continue construction, adding a brick façade to the outside of the building and living quarter to the inside.

It currently, as dedicated Saturday afternoon, has bays for the apparatuses, a hallway, an office and a small kitchen. Right now it is manned twice a week.

District 7 covers 177 square miles, which is the largest of all the parish’s fire districts. It is located in the rural center of the parish, covering the Talisheek area but also grabbing parts of the Abita Springs, Mandeville, Lacombe, Pearl River and Bush areas.

This station brings the district’s total number of stations to five.