Philip Haner, Fire Commissioner/Captain KCFPD#14
The Klickitat County Fire District 14 Fire Commissioners and members of High Prairie Fire would like to thank everyone involved with the procurement, planning, and building of the Schilling Road Fire Station. High Prairie Fire Station #2 is nearly complete. By the time this article comes out in the High Prairian, we will most likely have made the last payment to the builder (Kaban Homes of Centerville, WA) and the building will be officially ours. To celebrate, we will be having a ribbon-cutting and open house ceremony on Saturday May 4, 2019 at 1–3 p.m. Everyone is invited and more information will be provided soon.
Fire Station #2 was started approximately 15 years ago with the donation of the property from the Olin family. Initial ground work was begun to develop the property and a whole lot of paperwork was filed to begin the process of obtaining financing, including some preliminary plans. In 2017, then Fire Commissioner Arlen and his wife Sharon Aleckson began working with State Representative Gina McCabe (now Mosbrucker) to obtain a Washington State Capital Improvement Project Grant. The grant for $435,000 was awarded in January of 2018. Building of Station #2 began in June 2018 with the completion of the building in March of 2019. The construction has remained on budget and on time with the diligent work of our volunteer Project Manager Tim Darland and our Secretary/Treasurer Glenna Scott. Thank you!
Station #2 is a 45’ by 80’, 4-bay, metal-framed, insulated, metal-sided building with a concrete floor and an ADA-compliant bathroom. Potable water is stored in a 500 gallon tank and will be delivered as needed, thereby eliminating the need for a domestic well. A pump-out septic holding tank was incorporated so no drain field was required. This station will house four trucks including a Type-1 structure engine, a 2,000 gallon all-wheel drive water tender, an 8×8 heavy brush truck and a second, smaller brush truck. A 28,000 gallon underground water storage system was installed by Fire District personnel and lots of community members in early October 2018. This water system collects water from the building roof and with its 500 gallon per minute pump will be able to quickly fill fire trucks. As of the middle of February 2019, approximately 21,000 gallons of water had already been collected.
As your Fire District, our next steps will be to ensure the Washington Survey and Ratings Bureau acknowledges the addition of the new Fire Station and adjusts the insurance ratings for homeowners in the area. This process does require some work, including another inspection of the Fire District, but we have passed without issues before. Additional members from the District are encouraged to volunteer to help staff both stations. Meetings are the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the Month at Station #1 on Struck Road. Training and Drills will begin at Station #2 after we move fire trucks into their new home.
I would like to thank everyone involved with the High Prairie Fire Station #2. The District could not have done this without the amazing community support.