CHIMACUM — The public can tour today (Saturday) a new $2 million fire station that replaced a 60-year-old structure.
“I think our leadership did a great job bringing us a building that will serve us for decades to come in a cost-effective manner without spending any more money than we needed to,” said East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman Bill Beezley.
The open house will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the new Wally Westergaard Fire Station at 9193 Chimacum Road and will feature hot dogs and balloons as well as guided tours of the station, in use since Sept. 27.
The 11,000-square-foot station can house five paid firefighters in upgraded living quarters that include a large kitchen with a separate refrigerator for each shift, a lounge area with a wide-screen TV, a weight room, bedrooms and locker rooms.
“This is nothing fancy,” Beezley said. “It’s all utilitarian, but it provides a decent living environment.
“There are bare concrete floors, no solid-surface counter tops. We kept it simple,” he continued.
A major cost-cutting measure, Beezley said, was to make the equipment bays one-way rather than drive-through, forcing the crews to back engines into the bays rather than circle around.
“It’s a bigger pain to back in, but we can do it that way, and it saved some money,” Beezley said.
Beezley said the new station changes the department’s staffing model for the three stations located in Chimacum, Port Townsend and off Jacob Miller Road, which is between the two locations.
“We used to have more staffing in the middle, but now we are putting more at both ends in a barbell structure,” he said.
“That’s in response to the fact that we have more medical calls in Port Townsend, which is where the majority of our calls are.”
The district covers the city of Port Townsend and the unincorporated Jefferson County communities of Cape George, Chimacum, Irondale, Kala Point, Marrowstone Island and Port Hadlock.
Beezley credited Fire Commissioner Rich Stapf, who owns and operates his own construction firm, for overseeing the building’s construction.
The old station was named for former Fire Commissioner Wally Westergaard, and the name carries over to the new structure.
An “old timers” lunch is planned for today. Department veterans will get an early tour of the facility then.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
