Groundbreaking set for new firehouse

OSBURN — Approved by the voters in last year’s general election, the stage is now set for the new Shoshone County Fire District No. 1 firehouse to be built.

The official groundbreaking ceremony for the building will be taking place on Dec. 1 at noon on the district-owned lot at 58738 Silver Valley Road in Osburn.

In a news release from the district, they explain that the new 10,000-square-foot facility will provide essential lifesaving service to the entire community.

The building, designed by Longwell and Trapp, will boast a wide range of necessities that the current station, just down the road, severely lacks.

“It’s a huge upgrade,” SCFD No. 1 firefighter John Miller said when comparing the new house with the current. “This will be the first district owned building in our history (est. 1929), as we currently rent the Wallace and Osburn buildings.”

Modern offices and living spaces will be housed in the new single-story structure, along with a 10-vehicle apparatus bay attached for vehicles.

Miller explains that the current station has only “one private office/bedroom and then only one other room that serves as the living/dining/kitchen/bedroom with three beds all in the size of 250 square feet. Making it almost impossible to give privacy to females.”

As for vehicles, limited bay space forces the crews to store their engines and other apparatuses in three different locations across the district.

All of this will change with the new building, which will serve more staff, utilize more equipment, and allow crews to respond to emergencies more effectively.

“We are all very excited to have something that will feel like a home,” Miller said. “Firefighters spend 1/3 of their working career inside a firehouse, including family birthdays, holidays, and much more. There is a reason it is called a firehouse and not a fire station. Our firefighters live at the firehouse. They sleep, train, eat, cook and live for 56 hours a week at the firehouse away from their families.”

In addition to the significant upgrades for day-to-day operations, the new station will include a community training room which will be used as classroom space for staff and the general public.

In the event of a major disaster, the new station will also have the ability to remain operational, allowing fire personnel to continue providing vital services to the public and serve as a secondary Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for Shoshone County.

The total bond approved back in 2017 calls for $1.9 million to be spent on construction, but SCFD No. 1 is currently seeking grant funding to possibly chip away at that figure.

With the dream finally becoming reality, Miller and the rest of the crew are excited to show the community what this place can do — now and in the future.

“With the support and vote of confidence from the community, we will keep pushing to make our department stronger and better,” he said. “A big thank you to the community for the support and vote of confidence. We will continue to find ways to improve our service and to be as involved as possible with our communities with our focus of going from good to great.”

Construction on the new facility will begin this month and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2019.

SCFD No. 1 can be reached at 208-752-1101.