By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Six years after the idea for a new fire station, staff of the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District on Thursday moved into its new 12,700 square foot home.
The phones, computers and radios were hooked up and working. The first ambulance call came at 11:30 a.m., followed two hours later by the first fire call – smoke from an oven.
Thursday night, firefighter/paramedics Scott Spaulding and Tim O’Neill became the first crew to spend the night in their $8 million quarters.
“First shift. First sleeper,” O’Neill said. “Its pretty cool.”
Like any move from a 69-year-old home to a bright, shiny new one, there are still lots of details – and things to move or discard — to take care of. But with the radio system finally up and running and once phones were cut in Thursday morning, the district had to make the move.
“We’re in; we’re working,” said administrative assistant Yuvette Jaegge as she unpacked Thursday.
The station, financed with a voter-approved bond in 2016, is the largest public works project in the history of the Yachats area. It is located at 2056 U.S. Highway 101, on six acres just north of the Yachats city limits. Most importantly, it is out of the tsunami zone – one of the goals the fire district board set when it started looking for a new home. In addition to the city of Yachats, the district runs south of the city, east up the Yachats River and all the way to the Waldport city limits.
The station has large bays for all the district’s equipment – no more parking outside on West Second Street. It has four sleeping rooms, private baths and showers, a large, dry area for firefighter turnouts, a bright day room with enclosed patio, secure office for administrators, and rooms for training and board meetings.
“And it’s heated,” said Spaulding. “We’re not wearing outside clothes inside anymore.”
There’s also a full kitchen for staff which work 48-hour shifts.
“We’ve never had a kitchen before, just a refrigerator and microwaves,” said board member Ed Hallahan, who spearheaded much of the project. “Now we have stoves, refrigerators, storage.”
Hallahan said Yachats Ladies Club members have even promised to come help firefighters properly set up the kitchen and make sure they have all the right stuff.
“I’m just so pleased,” he said.
There’s still a lot of work to do to see what can or should be moved to the new station and what should be left behind. District administrator Frankie Petrick says it may not be until late January before the move is final.
“There’s a lot of stuff over there that belongs to other people … so we need to get it all back,” she said.
The district has also applied for a zone change for its property in downtown Yachats and plans to put it on the market early next year.
“We’ll be out of there by the time the city tells us what the zoning is,” Petrick said.
Links to previous stories about the Yachats fire station:
Oct. 24, 2019: Fire district gets ready to unveil new station to the public
June 5, 2019: New fire station may be done months ahead of schedule
Feb. 28, 2019: Yachats board adds back storage building to new station
Jan. 17, 2019: Yachats fire district struggles to contain cost of new station
Thanks so much for your Yachats News.Com updates. Our son lives and works in Yachats and it’s nice to keep up with the news from a place that he loves so much. Well Done!!