Here’s A Chance To Buy Your Own Fire Station

Thu., May 25, 1995

Bruce Krasnow Staff Writer

Pssst, buddy. Wanna buy a used fire station?

Chief Ed Lewis of Fire District 4 has a deal for you.

Located in beautiful downtown Chattaroy, the 2,200 square-foot wood-frame building is adjacent to the post office.

Only 36 years old, it has truck bays, a meeting room and kitchen.

One possible catch is that the building in inside the general agricultural zone, which means most commercial uses would not be allowed unless the new owners obtained a rezone from Spokane County.

“Some people are looking for places like that as a home,” said Lewis.

How much is the fire station worth on the open market?

“Not a heck of a lot,” said Lewis. The minimum bid has been set at $50,000, and offers are due to the fire district commissioners by June 12.

The station is being replaced by a new one just down the street.

The district is also constructing two other stations with proceeds from a $3.3 million bond issue.

One is on Highway 2 south of Colbert, and the other is on Wild Rose Prairie just west of U.S. 395.

The district has other old fire stations it uses for storage, and those as well may be sold in the future.

One problem with the old stations is they can not house large, modern fire-fighting equipment.

Fire District 4 covers 330 square miles in the northern part of Spokane County.

It has 170 firefighters, mostly volunteers, with 13 paid staff members, including six response people.

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