Fire District No. 2 asks for new Kellogg home

KELLOGG — Following in the footsteps of their fellow firefighters just down the interstate to the east, Fire Chief Mark Aamodt and the rest of Shoshone County Fire District No. 2 are hoping to build a new firehouse to replace their current one. In order to do this, they will have to get the voters to give them the green light.

Among the many local races and proposals on the May 15 ballot for those who reside in Fire District No. 2 (this roughly includes residents from Elizabeth Park all the way to Medimont in Kootenai County) is a measure asking them to approve or deny a bond that, would grant up to $2,900,000 for SCFD No. 2 to build themselves a new home. According to SCFD No. 2, this would even out to $18.17 per $100,000 of assessed taxable value per year.

Chief Aamodt stresses that the need for this new home is an immediate one, as the current city-owned building in uptown Kellogg is starting to really show its age.

The more than 100-year-old fire house is suffering from a laundry list of insufficiencies and safety hazards that make the firefighters less efficient and cost the taxpayers more money.

Aamodt explains that one of the first issues is the outdated electrical system that not only does not meet the crew’s needs, but it is also based in a completely different building due to past remodels and add-ons.

“The current electrical (system) is insufficient for our needs because nowadays, we rely more and more on computers,” he said.

Speaking of computers, the current firehouse lacks areas for firefighters to get work done in — forcing many to work wherever they can sit down.

“We don’t really have any facilities here,” Aamodt said. “I’ve got three people trying to work out of one little tiny office out there, where there is only one computer.”

The cramped conditions combined with the outdated electrical situation get even worse when you factor in that the building has no heating or ventilation system. Crews must use space heaters in the winter to stay warm and rely on work-arounds to limit their amount of exposure to vehicle exhaust, as it gets pumped right into the bay when the vehicles are started.

“Steps have been taken to lessen that,” Aamodt explained. “We have these air scrubbers hanging from the ceilings and they do remove some of the particulate matter, but not enough.”

Simply not keeping trucks running in the bay for too long is the first obvious solution, but the station’s small design even hinders firefighters from doing that.

The structure of the building itself greatly hinders their efforts, both in responding to calls and preforming maintenance on vehicles.

Originally designed for fire trucks in the early 1900s, the front bay doors barely leave enough room for crews to get out — sometimes not even cleanly.

“On each side of the apparatus coming in, we have a matter of inches,” Aamodt said.

Even routine tasks for firefighters that would be simple at other houses, such as getting gear on and climbing into an apparatus, are challenges at the old Kellogg station.

Aamodt said, “imagine getting into the biggest, heaviest snow suit you can imagine (that weighs about 30 pounds) and trying to climb up into a high truck — but you can’t get the doors open all the way because the bays are so narrow.”

Once the crews have loaded up, then comes the tedious task of exiting the bay. The placement of the bay doors, in combination with the location of the building, forces crews to block off part of East Market Avenue just so they can bring out their vehicles without harming motorists or pedestrians.

This must be done even if the crews want to preform routine maintenance on the vehicles, as the ceilings are too low to open the hoods inside.

“Spacing is definitely an issue,” Aamodt stressed. “It’s a hindrance on the job and to the equipment itself. We take pride in trying to take care of the apparatus that the tax payers have bought for us, but it’s just getting to where we can’t do that.”

These shortcomings are just some of the major ones that have a huge impact on performance. They don’t even cover the many other issues that keep the firehouse from being up to code — such as a lack of separate male and female facilities, no public restrooms, no meeting or training rooms, no space for gear and a myriad of other items that do not meet ADA requirements.

All of these deficiencies (and more) were detailed in a 2012 existing facility survey, conducted by a nystrom + olson architecture.

If approved by the voters, Aamodt said that the new station (to be located on Bunker Avenue, immediately west of the old Kellogg Middle School) will take care of all these issues by not only having a better building, but a better location as well.

“The advantages of that new location are just outstanding,” he said. “From a risk standpoint (at the old station), we have to worry about people being in front of those doors and stepping out in front of us. Down there, our approach in and out of the station will be in a place where we wont be going over a sidewalk.”

To address those who may suggest that the current location could be refurbished or remodeled again in lieu of a new building, Aamodt said that it’s simply not possible.

“This building has served us well for all these years, but over time, we have outgrown it, and the building has just gotten to where it can’t be modified any further to suit what our needs are.”

SCFD No. 2 has four active stations in Kellogg, Pinehurst, Rose Lake and Medimont. This would be the first time any changes would be made to the Kellogg house.