Eager to move in: GC Fire District 8’s new fire hall nearly ready for crews

MATTAWA — It’s almost moving day for Grant County Fire District 8.

“We’re kind of looking at the first of May (to start moving in),” said Grant County Fire District 8 Chief Dave Patterson. “We’re closing in on the finish.”

The new fire hall, at 20643 Road 22.5 SW, is about 18,000 square feet and has room for more equipment and living space for paid staff.

“It’s going to be great,” Patterson said. “It’s really functional, too, and that’s the main thing,”

There’s room for five fire trucks or ambulances in the equipment bay, and doors on both sides of the bay mean equipment can be parked two deep. Because firefighters will be stationed on site during their shifts, the new building also has living quarters, including a kitchen and six bedrooms.

It’s been a while coming.

“We’ve been working on it six, seven years,” Patterson said. “It’s good to see it come about.”

Fire district business manager and secretary Barbara Davis said the total project cost is about $6 million. The district had about $3.5 million in reserves and sold the existing fire hall for about $800,000, Davis said. The rest of the cost is being paid for through a loan. The annual payment is about $150,000, she said, with a 20-year payback provision.

The existing fire station is in downtown Mattawa and the new one is about a mile and a half north on state Route 243. Patterson said the response time will be about the same, since fire trucks and ambulances will not need to battle traffic on Mattawa’s main street, Government Road.

In fact, the onsite housing means response times will be shorter in some cases. Currently, firefighters have to respond from home when there’s a call after business hours. At the new station, a crew will be available almost immediately.

“They’ll get up, put their boots on and be responding,” Patterson said.

Fire district officials purchased 10 acres, Patterson said, and the new fire hall takes up five acres.

“We really wanted room to grow,” Davis said.

The additional acreage offers the opportunity to build training facilities or to expand the fire hall.

“With that much property, expansion is always a possibility,” Patterson said.

The department employs five full time firefighter-EMTs, along with Patterson and Davis, and has about 20 to 30 active volunteers.

“We have a pretty loyal group of volunteers,” Davis said. “The majority of them have been with us for five years or more.”

Firefighter and EMT Jose Cruz estimated medical calls make up about 85% of the district’s requests for service.

“We have less than 20 structure fires per year,” Davis said.

District firefighters respond to between 65 and 75 wildland fires per year, she said.

“Last year we had about 10,000 acres go up in smoke,” she said.

But as fruit orchard, vineyard and row crop acreage has expanded, the district is experiencing fewer fires, she said.

Firefighter and EMT Geoff Hudson said there’s more fire prevention education, and modern construction standards have more requirements when it comes to fire prevention.

As Mattawa grows, the district needs more personnel. Cruz estimated the volume of calls for service has grown about 30% in the last five years.

“We are always looking for more volunteers,” Davis said.

As a career, “it’s very rewarding,” she added.

While it’s rewarding, it’s also challenging.

“You have to think on your feet so much, and not be freaked out by anything,” Davis said. “Because you’re going to get exposed to anything you can imagine, and more. You have to keep a cool head.”

Because EMS and firefighting techniques are always changing, continuing education is required for full-time employees and volunteers alike.

“It’s a pretty huge time commitment just to be a firefighter,” she said.

But the rewards make it worth it, she said. She responded to a call for a child with an injured hand, she said, and the child remembered her the next time he saw her, running to greet her. To that kid she’s “Nurse Barb,” she said.

Cruz was in a pharmacy program, but it didn’t seem like the career he wanted, he said. Two of his uncles work for the Pasco Fire Department and they recommended he look into firefighting instead.

It was, he said, a wise decision.

“I love it,” he said. “Never the same day twice.”

He’s been with the department about 17 months.

Like Cruz, Hudson got a job with GCFD 8 with the help of the resident firefighter program at Grant County Fire District No. 3 in Quincy.

Resident firefighters receive a stipend and work with the full-time staff and department volunteers. It’s more than a stipend, Hudson said; the goal is to get people hired.

Hudson said he had difficulty getting into the profession in his native Arizona.

“I kind of got defeated after a while,” he said, and took another job.

He came to central Washington on vacation and discovered the GCFD 3 program, went back to Arizona and put in his two-week notice, he said. He’s been working for GCFD 8 for about five months.

The department has three stations, but only one has full-time personnel, Davis said. The fire district comprises about 240 square miles.

The district takes in the stretch of the Columbia River shore, from Wanapum to Priest Rapids dams. The district provides fire protection for Wanapum Village in Yakima County, and has a contract for fire protection with the city of Mattawa.

“We pretty much go from dam to dam,” Hudson said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.