Training building nearing completion

The Bigfork Volunteer Fire Department has conducted some minor exercises at its new training facility in Echo Lake but hopes to have full use of the building Jan. 1, according to fire chief Wayne Loeffler.

Phase one of construction, which entailed building the structure's three-story concrete and steel shell, was completed in October. That portion of the project cost a little more than $100,000.

Loeffler hopes to get started on phase two as soon as possible. He's waiting on final approval from the department's board, which wanted more information on the engineering of the internal staircases in the building.

Phase two will involve installing windows and frames, interior stairways and handrails on the top of the building. Once work begins, Loeffler estimates it will take roughly six weeks to complete and cost around $17,000.

Money for the facility has been raised by Friends of the Bigfork Fire Department through fundraisers like its Brats, Burgers and Band event which was held in September.

Prior to starting phase two, the group has about $20,000 remaining to fund the project, Loeffler said. More will have to be raised for phase three, which will come sometime next year and involve adding external stairwells for $26,000 or more.

After phase two is complete, department firefighters, along with those from Creston and Ferndale, will be able to conduct live burns and hose exercises in the new facility, located on the east side of the Echo Lake fire hall.

Bigfork volunteer firefighters train three Thursdays a month.

The new building will allow the department to train volunteers to reach the level of firefighter 1, a certification that has been difficult to achieve before without years with the department.

Loeffler's goal is to get all firefighters at level 1 or higher with the new re-ignitable training building. It will take volunteers three or four months to complete a training program.

With the new facility, firefighters will learn how to do forceful entries and get victims out of second-story windows in timed exercises.

Currently, no other departments in the Valley have a training facility of this size, Loeffler said.