New Stations Help Firefighters Respond To Emergencies Faster

Compared to what they had in their old digs, the volunteers at Fire District 4’s Station 44 on the Newport Highway are working in luxury.

Instead of a station a little bigger than a double garage, volunteers now live in the station.

Instead of having to rush to the station when a fire call comes in by beeper and hearing the old fashioned, high-decibel horn, volunteers are a few yards from their boots.

“We can have four (volunteers) out the door in 30 seconds,” said station supervisor Sonny Etheredge.

Three new stations in north Spokane County were opened this summer. They were paid for by the $3.3 million fire-safety bond issue passed in 1992.

As a result, residents of Fire District 4, a 330-square mile rectangle on the northern end of Spokane County, now have roundthe-clock staffing at stations at Chattaroy, Green Bluff and Wild Rose Prairie.

The stations are spartan 8,000 square-foot prefabricated metal shells with one cavernous bay and simple office and sleeping quarters off in the wings.

“Our target was to build the square footage we needed with a small budget,” said district Chief Ed Lewis.

The construction has been completed, but the fire district is still slowly replacing older, smaller trucks with behemoths like the 3,000-gallon water tank on wheels that rolled in last week.

By the time all the trucks are in, one-third, or 10 pieces, of the old “apparatus” will be replaced.

The district also bought 10 new defibrillators to give firefighters the equipment to jump-start a heart on the scene. About 65 percent of the district’s calls are first-aid related, Lewis said.

The new stations are manned by four volunteers at all times. Most of the volunteers are Spokane Community College students enrolled in the college’s fire science technology program. They live at the station.

Sleeping quarters for the volunteers are as spare as a hermit’s calendar. The room where Howard Johnson, a student in the program, lives has no posters, and hospital corners are on the beds.

“These are the volunteers’ private spaces,” said Lewis, walking into the room with a laugh.

The station doesn’t have a resident fire dog, but Ethredge brings his Dalmation, Domino, around occasionally just to keep the tradition.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: OPEN HOUSES Fire District 4 is holding open houses Sunday at the three new stations: Station 42, 3219 E. Chattaroy Road. Station 44, 17207 N. Newport Highway. Station 45, 3929 W. Wild Rose Road.