Wauna For New Fire HQ

In 1977, I moved my family to an empty piece of stump land on the Key Peninsula. We made it home and soon realized this was a place where anyone could get ahead, a community with people of all talents. I saw the fire department was the one place you could always get help.

People like Horace Kanno, Fred Ramsdell, Chuck West, and many other volunteers were always there for the community. I became involved when the board of fire commissioners decided to give the ambulance away to a private company. A committee of citizens convinced them they were wrong, and the community voted for the money to support their wants.

KPFD became a model for other fire districts. When expansion was needed, another citizens committee was formed, a plan was made, and a bond issue passed.

In more recent years, a Citizens Advisory Panel was formed to advise the board of fire commissioners on matters of expansion. When that committee came up with answers that didn’t please the board, the commissioners dismissed the contrarians and placed more friendly persons on that committee. I think I can safely assume that this is where the plan to buy land at more than market value started.

Now for a little historical fact: When Station No. 44 in Wauna was built, there was not enough money to build the administrative wing. The blueprints should still be there unless they were discarded. The plans were approved by Pierce County, and I believe could be updated to meet current codes as needed.

Why build a headquarters there? Simply put, land in Key Center is too expensive. Wauna is the most populated area of the peninsula and is centrally located on the road coming and going to the entire community. By the way, the Citizens Advisory Panel decided that Key Center must have a station, but being directly in town is not necessary.

Commissioners need to go back and listen to the people, admit mistakes, get rid of the foolishly purchased land, and then ask for money to build their new HQ.