Plans unveiled for new Coram fire station
The Coram-West Glacier Volunteer Fire Department plans to improve its facility from the current “glorified garage” to a new, bigger station at a better location.
Department officials said the West Glacier Fire Hall is an adequate facility located at the north end of the district in West Glacier, but the department needs for a better facility in Coram at the southern part of the district.
Members of the fire department are holding a public meeting with community members to present their ideas for a new fire station and get public feedback. The meeting starts at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, at the West Glacier Fire Hall, 100 REA Road in West Glacier.
“We want the community to tell us what they would like to see in a fire hall,” said Gil Jordan, secretary-treasurer of Coram-West Glacier Fire Department.
The current station at the south end of the district was built about 40 years ago. It has electricity but no water or sewer service. There is no room for an office or community space, and it sits on a small lot with no room for expansion, according to Jordan.
The firefighters have to drive their current vehicles into the station at an angle to make them fit, said Walter Tabb, a former fire chief still active in the department.
“It would be nice to have a building that can handle the equipment we currently have, and to allow some room for growth,” he said.
The Coram-West Glacier department covers 21 square miles. The district has 14 volunteer firefighters, including nine who respond regularly, Jordan said. The district also is actively seeking new volunteers.
“We are a good fire department,” Jordan said. “We are well-equipped with fire equipment and we are well-trained.”
“Our response time is very remarkable for a tiny department in a big district with volunteers,” he said. “People drop what they are doing, hustle to the hall and get to the scene in a hurry.”
But if the department needs more than two fire engines on the south end of the district, it could take about 15 minutes to respond, Jordan said. The fire department owns land for a new fire hall at the corner of U.S. 2 and Seville Lane in Coram.
“Our piece of property is in an ideal place right off the highway,” Tabb said.
The new Coram fire station plans call for four engine bays in a drive-through configuration. This would add to the capacity and convenience of local firefighters.
“I cannot tell you how difficult it is to bring a huge firetruck back from a call and have to back it up into the hall,” Jordan said. “The new hall will be a drive-through. When you get back from a call you can drive it in through the back and it will be ready to go for the next call.”
A new fire hall would also make it easier for firefighters to fill their vehicles with water.
“We don’t have water, so we have to go to a fire hydrant to fill the trucks up after a call. That’s very inconvenient, especially in the dead of winter. When we get a new hall, the services would be right there,” Jordan said.
The firefighters also are looking forward to having some space for firefighters to gather and to conduct trainings. The new station may also include office space, they said.
The fire district has about $173,000 in its building reserve account, with another $50,000 budgeted to be added this fiscal year, according to Jordan. With the additional firefighters’ fund of $75,000, the district has about $298,000 ready to build the new Coram facility, he said.
Reporter Breeana Laughlin may be reached at 758-4459 or blaughlin@dailyinterlake.com.