When Thorsby firefighters are not responding to a call, they are painting walls, nailing down flooring and moving furniture.

The department decided not to hire an outside contractor for much-needed renovations at the station. Instead, the guys are doing the work themselves.

“We’re saving the town a lot of money on that,” Thorsby Fire Chief Lee Gunn said. “It’s an ongoing project.”

Work began this month to renovate the bedrooms and the TV room. The facility is getting new flooring, a new coat of paint and new furnishings.

The project is the first major renovation of the fire station in nearly three decades, since the building’s construction in the early ‘80s.

“That was the last time, really, a whole lot had been done,” Gunn said.

Funding for the renovation is not coming out of the town’s budget but a separate fire department fund. This funding, Gunn said, is fed by several different sources, including donations, grants, insurance checks and a portion of the hospital tax.

Council member Tara Jewell donated a 42-inch plasma television, and a Jemison area furniture store donated a living room suit at half price.

“It should be done after the beginning of the year,” Gunn said about the project.