SEQUIM — Design work on two fire stations could begin in the coming months for Clallam County Fire District 3.
The commissioners of the district, which covers the east side of Clallam County with a small portion in Jefferson County, have agreed to seek Statements of Qualifications from architects to design new structures for Station 31 (Dungeness) and Station 33 (Carlsborg).
“We’re looking to get an architect under contract,” assistant fire chief Dan Orr said at the Jan. 4 fire commissioners’ meeting.
“Station 31 is a pretty simple design.”
Fire commissioners agreed to a Feb. 17 deadline for applications.
According to a Scope of Work document, the selected firm would “design, engineer, prepare plans, specifications, cost estimates, site and utility improvement drawings and general construction documents” and “assist the District with construction oversight and inspection services during construction.”
Dungeness station
Volunteer Station 31, at 4771 Sequim-Dungeness Way, was built in 1966 and hosts an All Hazard Alert Broadcast Tsunami siren, according to fire district staff.
District leaders agreed to purchase 1.9 acres on East Anderson Road in 2014 to relocate the building out of the tsunami and flood zone.
Conceptual design work is estimated at about $700,000 for a new Dungeness Station.
The facility would be a 60-foot by 50-foot building with two apparatus bays, an office, two bathrooms and a general purpose room, according to a grant request to Washington’s Emergency Management Division for Hazard Mitigation Assistance.
Orr and Blaine Zechenelly, a volunteer EMT and disaster planner, detail in the application that the Dungeness station’s walls are cracking and the foundation is separated from the concrete pad.
The station could experience more significant effects of flooding, tsunami and severe shaking than other areas in a 9.0 earthquake because it is in a high liquefaction zone.
Zechenelly told commissioners on Dec. 7 that the district has explored a few options with the existing Dungeness station, including selling it outright or selling it to a nonprofit agency, such as the North Olympic Salmon Coalition to help preserve salmon habitat in Meadowbrook Creek about 25 feet away from the station.
“If we can get anything for that property, and (the salmon coalition) wants it, and it helps salmon, it’s win, win, win,” Orr said.
Carlsborg station
The Carlsborg Station 34 at 70 Carlsborg Road was built in 1964 and continues to house three firefighters 24 hours a day.
New plans would move it north to the training center at 255 Carlsborg Road on the east side of the 10-acre property.
The district’s Scope of Work for architects details station designs to include four drive-through bays, five bedrooms and more general space, at about 10,250 square feet.
In a previous interview, District 3 fire chief Ben Andrews said one of the Carlsborg station’s issues is that vehicles don’t fit well in its garage.
Fire commissioners agreed to budget about $375,000 for architectural and engineering plans for 2022, with Andrews saying securing architectural plans could make it easier to obtain grants.
For more about Clallam County Fire District 3, call 360-683-4242 or visit ccfd3.org.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
The application process is open to architects to design new fire stations in Carlsborg, pictured, and Dungeness for Clallam County Fire District 3. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
