• Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of stories focusing on the progress of the cities of Kenmore and Bothell. Look for an in-depth package of stories in the Aug. 5 print edition. Click here for a story on the new Kenmore Library.
They’ve moved across the street, their new station is more than double the size of the old one and a group of Northshore firefighters are honored to be involved with recently unveiled Station 51 in Kenmore.
“Very few firefighters get the opportunity to say that they were the first company to occupy a new station, and we were very excited to have such a privilege,” said Lt. Mitch Sauer, who along with Battalion Chief Mike Morris and firefighters Todd McInturff, Russ Holmes, Brian Ford, Anders Hansson and Lyle Haugsven form the D Shift, the first shift to work in the new station, located at 7220 N.E. 181st St.
“With the understanding that this station and its apparatus are owned by the citizens of Kenmore and Lake Forest Park, it will always be with a great deal of pride that we care for and manage their property,” Sauer added.
The Northshore Fire Department’s old spot on 73rd Avenue Northeast has been standing since 1976 and covers 14,000 square feet. Its new 30,000-square-foot, two-story home features five bays for department vehicles — including two fire engines, a rescue truck and two aid cars — administrative offices, meeting rooms, living quarters, a gym, a kitchen, three paintings by Seattle artist Gloria Bornstein and a piece of beam from one of the World Trade Center buildings. In all, there’s 50 employees, 40 of them firefighters.
There’s also a five-story training tower on the premises where, according to Chief Tom Weathers, “We can actually put together any scenario you’d expect to see in Kenmore or Lake Forest Park and they get to practice on it. We have a burn prop in there that’s propane driven and looks like a kitchen.”
Firefighters utilize their ladders and work on high-angle rescue and search and rescue while cutting holes and climbing through an attic prop. They trained at facilities in Bellevue and North Bend before, and the Kenmore station has already hosted a training session with other departments.
One feature absent from the new station is a traditional pole for firefighters to slide down on their way to the trucks. Weathers said that Labor and Industries doesn’t allow newly built stations to have them because of injuries in the past in the Seattle area.
It’s been eight years since the Northshore Fire Department formally identified the need to renovate its old station or build a new one. After a few years of architectural and site evaluations, site selection/property acquisition and tapping of an architect, voters authorized a $25 million bond — with 70-percent passage rate — in February 2008. In August 2009, $18.295 million in bonds were issued at an average of 3.92-percent interest.
Construction began in August 2009 and the station officially opened July 13.
Chief Weathers has been with the department since June 2000: he was deputy chief for five years and has been chief for five; prior to that, he worked in the fire industry for 22 years in Arizona.
“It was an arduous task,” Weathers said of the long process of sharing the initial ideas to finally moving into the new station. “We first did a study: Did we need something different? That was a definitive yes. Do we do a retrofit or a remodel with our current station? That answer came back and it was surprising that it would probably cost more to retrofit than it would be to build something new.”
Weathers, who will be retiring at the end of this year, said they asked employees and other stakeholders what they’d like to see at the station regarding architecture and amenities. The station has more space then they need to operate efficiently at the moment, but the chief said they’ll be able to fill the vacant spots in the future when the department expands.
“We built looking forward to 40-50 years out — what would the needs be?” Weathers said. “We’re ready for whatever’s thrown our way today and in the near future.”
One advantage for the firefighters in the new station is that the bay doors fold open faster than the overhead sectional doors they used before. Weathers said trucks exit the station quicker through those kind of doors and onto 73rd Avenue Northeast to begin their call. They’re also able to control the traffic lights by pushing a button inside the station to help the trucks make their way to an emergency situation.
The department averages a little under 10 calls a day, from fires to medical emergencies.
“We don’t have a lot of fires, because of fire codes, construction and the knowledge of people — understanding that they’re the ones that have the primary control over life safety,” said Weathers, noting that firefighters often inform the public about fire safety when they meet people on the streets or when making business inspections. “We do have a number of people who do say, ‘I knew what to do when this happened.’ We had a call the other day from someone thanking us for what to do in a grease fire where they covered the fire (with a lid) because they learned it through one of our programs.”
