LOCAL 

---

Monday, July 19, 2004

Safety Center plans shaping

By BROOK GRIFFIN of the East Oregonian
bgriffin@eastoregonian.com


HERMISTON — The Hermiston Fire Department is getting closer to enlarging its building, with plans in the works for a $1 million expansion.

The fire district has preliminary plans for the addition, which would take the department about 40 feet farther north at the Hermiston Safety Center, the facility it shares with the Hermiston police.

“We have plans and we are preparing to go to bid,” Chief Jim Stearns said. “Depending on how the bids come back is where we will move forward.”

The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) is encouraging the expansion. It is putting up about $400,000 toward the project.

“Our desire for all of this is hoping the building will be built and operational before the 2005 CSEPP test exercise,” said CSEPP spokeswoman Cheryl Seigel.

Stearns said construction on the expansion could begin in September at the earliest and should be completed long before the next exercise.

Even if that deadline is missed, Seigel said the funds will still be reserved for the project. The funds are being administered through the city of Hermiston, which owns the building and leases it to the fire department.

The balance of the project will be jointly paid for by the city and the fire district. Other projects on the horizon for the district will have to be pushed back to pay for the extra space, Stearns said, including a station on the north side of town.

In addition to providing a new pressurized operations center in case of an emergency at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, the expansion will provide separate shower and bathroom facilities for male and female firefighters.

“In 1972 when the building was built, the thought of female firefighter just wasn’t thought of,” Stearns said.

But the department now has a handful of female volunteers and Stearns hinted that the department may have a full-time female firefighter added to its ranks in the near future.

The proposed additions will extend the north side of the building and add a second story. All told it will add about 6,000 square feet to the facility.

A small portion of the neighboring McKenzie Park will have to be removed to make extra room. Stearns said four trees, including one large one, will have to be removed during construction.

The section of the building the fire department uses now will be absorbed by the police department Stearns said.