NATCHEZ — Firefighters at the Natchez Fire Department can do more than just fight fires.

They can paint, do carpentry work, weld; Some are even certified electricians and air-conditioning technicians.

The non-firefighting skills of NFD firefighters were put to use recently to make improvements to Natchez Fire Station No. 2 on John R. Junkin Drive.

“The station has been in desperate need of a makeover,” Natchez Fire Chief Aaron Wesley said. “We had deteriorating wood and the paint had faded.”

Overall, firefighters replaced windows, wood, painted the entire station and made other renovations, Wesley said.

The improvements to the station totaled approximately $4,000 to $5,000, Wesley said.

“That was with materials,” he said. “We saved on labor because the firemen did the work.”

Captain Rusty Anders helped with the work and said it was important to the firefighters to restore the station.

“In years past, we were forced to do it, and it didn’t look as nice as it does now because (now) we wanted to do it,” Anders said. “It’s important to us to make it look nice.

“We are taking pride in our (station), because we know we are not getting a new station.”

Station No. 2 may be in good shape for now, but other fire stations are in need of work, Wesley said, especially Station No. 3 on Vaughn Drive off Martin Luther King Jr. Road.

Aside from an aging and deteriorating building, birds have nested in the attic, creating a foul odor throughout the station.

Mayor-elect Darryl Grennell, who takes office Friday, said he has toured the city fire stations and talked with Wesley about utilizing the skills of the firefighters to repair other stations.

“I went out there (to Station No. 2), and I was really impressed with the work they did,” Grennell said. “We have talent among us in terms of our employees, and I am in total support of using the firemen in order to reciprocate some of these issues.

“My position is we, the city, we request citizens to keep their grass cut and keep trash up from around their houses, and we’ve got to do the same thing in terms of our city infrastructure.”