A group of 40 Deer Harbor residents and Orcas Island Fire & Rescue volunteers joined the Board of Fire Commissioners, the architect and general contractor for groundbreaking of the new station on June 5.

It is set to be completed between Halloween and Thanksgiving of this year.

Displays of past station history, a model of the future station and refreshments were enjoyed in the current single bay fire station, which was built in 1973.

Chief Mike Harris introduced the delegation to the crowd, and Commissioner Clyde Duke spoke of the funding provided by the 1999 levy and the work done before he became a board member in 2004.

Commissioner Chair Jim Coffin described the 2005 Strategic plan’s vision for the future Deer Harbor/Spring Point station. This is the last major portion of the plan and the district is beginning the new planning process this year.

Newest Commissioner Barbara Bedell spoke of the agreement between the volunteers who will respond, and the community, who will provide the tools and training.

Architect Ben Trogden acknowledged his father Bill, who provided the first conceptual design as well as the scale model. The general contractor, Brian Wellman, promised he would keep construction time inconveniences as short as possible.

The district hopes to complete more of the station than planned by using the amount of money still in the budget after the shell is completed. Wellman & Zuck were the low bidders at just over $425,000. The budget for the project is $700,000.