Ted Budd

Steve Freeman, chief of the Bat Cave Fire and Rescue Department, will attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Feb. 24 as a special guest of Sen. Ted Budd.

He was driving near Springfield, Virginia, about an hour outside of Washington, D.C., when he spoke to the Times-News by phone Feb. 23.

“It’s a little overwhelming, it’s a great honor,” he said.

Aside from attending the speech, he also plans to go on a tour of the U.S. Capitol with Budd.

Bat Cave was one of the worst-hit communities in North Carolina by Tropical Storm Helene almost 17 months ago, with phone service out for weeks and power out for more than a month, according to Freeman.

Roads were severely damaged and are still under construction.

The first house to be rebuilt and the community's post office, the first storefront to reopen since the storm, weren't finished until the week of the anniversary, according to previous Times-News reporting.

The chief was an important leader in the storm’s aftermath.

“We don’t have a mayor and city council to be our voice, so it’s kind of been thrown on me as the fire chief to be the spokesman for our unincorporated area,” he said Feb. 23.

Around 85% of the roughly 400 residents in the area were evacuated after the storm, essentially leaving only firefighters, their families and outside first responders, Freeman told the Times-News around the storm’s anniversary in 2025.

Freeman said he had a near-death experience when a pole shed collapsed on him during the storm.

“I knew at that point I was saved for a purpose,” to help rescue others in similar situations, he said.

That work is what got him the invitation, after Budd heard of what the department had done for the community’s recovery.

“It’s not just me. It’s what God’s done through me and all my firemen,” Freeman said.

“All these people that have done all this work have done it for free,” said Freeman’s wife, Joyce Freeman, of the all-volunteer Bat Cave Fire Department.

“I’m proud of Steve for what he’s done,” she said.

Freeman said he hopes his appearance at the State of the Union will raise awareness of the post-Helene conditions that persist in Bat Cave.

“We’ve made a lot of progress but I think for the most part, (everyone in Washington) need(s) to understand that there are still just one-lane roads into Bat Cave from all three directions,” meaning traffic can only move in one direction at a time, on timed lights.

It could be up to 18 months longer before the roads are back to two lanes, he said.

Looking ahead to his time in D.C., though, Freeman said he was looking forward to visiting the Smithsonian.

George Fabe Russell is the Henderson County Reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News. Tips, questions, comments? Email him at [email protected].