By MARGIE DOYLE

Editor

Now that the Deer Harbor building moratorium has been lifted, plans for a new Fire Station for the Deer Harbor/Spring Point area are gaining momentum.

As part of the Orcas Island Fire District levy passed in 1999, the District committed to build and refurbish its seven fire stations. As reported on the district’s website, the construction of the new headquarters station in Eastsound, completed in 2002, was the largest part of this plan. The remodel of the Rosario station has been on-going for over a year. Four of the other five stations are getting improvements including new paint, electric door openers, and rest rooms where possible.

The Deer Harbor Station was constructed in 1972, a concrete block building 16 feet wide and 32 feet long. The website states that “it is barely large enough to allow a modern fire truck in the station [and] still open the cab doors. It has no rest room and no real space for storage of supplies. It is inadequate for our needs now and for the future The main issue is that it cannot house another fire truck and we desperately need to house a water tanker in the community for fire protection. The lot we lease is only big enough for the existing station.”

The new station has been planned to be built on the property the District owns, next to the existing station. The Fire Department has planned a station with enough space for four vehicles: a new fire truck, a tanker coming from the West Sound station, an ambulance when one of the current apparatus is replaced (within five years) and space for a fourth vehicle “when future needs determine what that is.”

Also planned is overnight living space for at least three and up to six volunteers. The total square footage of the new station is expected to be about 3,840 square feet. We need your help to finish this plan.

Last July, a community meeting Open House was held to discuss the Fire District plans for Deer Harbor station, and the community’s concerns. A second meeting was held on Feb. 12 as part of the regular Fire Commission meeting, attended by department administration, employees, former Commissioner John Erly and Deer Harbor community members, as well as the Fire Commissioners.

Fire Chief Mike Harris discussed the site plan developed by Greg Bronn and building elevations by Bill Trogden.

Information brought out in the meeting indicated that the building will be used for training (a minimum of one session per month) and perhaps community meetings. The station is designed to be a “stand alone station” so that there is room for responders to stay there in the event of a major incident, thereby increasing the fire department’s effectiveness. It was noted that it takes about 25 minutes for an aid car to come from Eastsound.

It was also noted that three studies on station placement have occurred, all agreeing that the site now designated is “good,” and that delays cause money to be lost to inflation.

The station will be on the community well, with a catchment system and plans for underground water storage, holding “no less than” 10,000 gallons of water. The building height is 26 feet for the roof line and 28 feet for the cupolas.There will be four parking spaces.

Capital funds of up to $700,000 have been designated for the Deer Harbor Station. Plans call for using the current station for storage if it can be obtained.

There is no zoning for fire stations, so the Fire District is required to apply for and complete a “Special Use” permit. This process requires public meetings and input. Once a building permit is obtained, following community support, it should take one year to complete the new station.

At the Feb. 26 working session of the Fire Commission, the Board was concerned that they may not have knowledge of all of the possible sites for a new fire station identified. They are sending a letter to each property owner within a half-mile of the current station on Channel road. This letter will ask each property owner if they have a minimum one-half acre parcel available for sale or tax deductible donation to the District suitable for construction of a new fire station.

Residents of the area can call Chief Mike Harris at 622-6056 or e-mail him at the “contact the district” link on the web site www.orcasfire.org.