Why You Need the Fire Levy and a New HQ

I’ve been a firefighter for 43 years, a number of those with KPFD 16. There are several reasons a firefighter will leave and go to another fire department: money, opportunities, family. Mine was much simpler. The chief and two of the three commissioners at the time displayed a severe lack of integrity and I refused to work for them.

There is no doubt the purchase of the commercial properties in Key Center to replace the existing headquarters was a giant mistake and one they will need to work hard to fix (not as big as putting Interim Chief Hal Wolverton on leave after he opposed it, but I digress).

The first time I stepped into the headquarters, Station 46, was 1988. The building was well-used. Ripped carpeting, no air conditioning (in a steel building), equipment stored in every square inch, enough L&I violations to keep an inspector busy for months, and a lack of exhaust equipment to get rid of diesel fumes. It was common for firefighters to walk throughout the building in their unwashed bunker gear. Back then it was a sign of pride not to wash your gear, and nobody focused on preventing contamination. Since we used to keep the gear next to our beds, the contamination was spread into our bunkroom, kitchen and TV rooms, and throughout the station.

Attached to the rear of the station was a 50-foot tower used to dry cotton-jacketed hose after use. In 1990, the tower collapsed into a sinkhole, which in turn caused issues with the septic field.

In 1992, the building went through a major remodel. The entire admin wing was ripped out and updated, and the fuel pumps were moved from the north side of the building to the current location in back. We were told by the engineers the rear half of the fire station sat on fill dirt trucked in to level the valley that now holds the lumber yard, grocery store, KC Corral and the fire station. They said if there was a major earthquake, the back half of the station would drop two feet, making response impossible. 

In 1994, the commissioners started talking about moving the headquarters. It never got past the “what if ” phase.

There was an idea of adding the new admin wing to Station 44 in Wauna, and it was designed to do so (that’s why the apparatus bays face east/west and not the road), but funding and having the headquarters that far north never took hold.

I don’t agree with the purchase of the commercial property in Key Center. The location is all wrong and there are better sites. But Station 46 has paid for itself 10 times over. The taxpayer has gotten an incredible deal out of that building, and anyone trying to squeeze 10 more years out of this antiquated and obsolete structure doesn’t understand the response needs of the fire service.