All moved in
Photo by AK PHOTOGRAPHY The Shoshone County Fire District No. 1 crew watch Chief Aaron Cagle and Firefighter Jack Long “cut” the “ribbon” at Saturday’s open firehouse event.
Photo by CHANSE WATSON Open house attendees meet in the front entryway of the new firehouse as they move from room to room.
Photo by AK PHOTOGRAPHY It was standing room only during the open house ceremony held in the new vehicle bay.
Photo by AK PHOTOGRAPHY A picturesque view of the new station from outside.
By CHANSE WATSON
Managing Editor
OSBURN – The new Shoshone County Fire District No. 1 Firehouse got to test its capacity rating on Saturday when Silver Valley residents swung by to help the crew officially open it for use.
The open house on Nov. 9 boasted an impressive attendance of roughly 250 people- much more than SCFD No. 1 Chief Aaron Cagle could have hoped for.
“It was an incredible turnout and it was nice to see so many smiling faces,” Chief Cagle said. “We thought we had enough chairs for the ceremony, but they filled up fast.”
The event began with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting outside the new station, or in this case, a ceremonial hose decoupling.
Things then moved inside the vehicle bay for a standing-room only presentation by the SCFD No. 1 crew where they thanked the community for their part in the construction of the building and recognized their team’s leadership.
The rest of the day was spent perusing the new station’s many rooms and offices. The public was invited to check out everything the new station had to offer and ask the crew questions about what everything was going to be used for.
The District’s vehicles, which now have a structure to keep all of them sheltered from the weather, were on display as well for all to see.
SCFD No. 1 even wasted no time breaking in their new kitchen and served attendees with a free meal.
Younger visitors had the opportunity to receive grab-bags filled with firefighter goodies and even meet Sparky the Fire Dog.
Approved by the District’s voters in 2017, the new 10,000-square-foot facility at 58738 Silver Valley Road in Osburn is the first building SCFD No. 1 has ever owned in their existence (est. 1929) and is a significant improvement over its predecessor.
The old station was deficient in several different areas including having adequate space for personnel to sleep, eat, complete paperwork, store vehicles and gear.
SCFD No. 1 Cpt. John Miller explained in a previous interview that the old station had only “one private office/bedroom and then only one other room that served 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.”
The new station fixes all these problems and even allows for more opportunities, such as having a community training room which will be used as classroom space for staff and the general public.
The noticeably larger vehicle bay is equipped with an exhaust removal system that allows the crews to start their engines inside the bay and not have carbon dioxide pumping into the building.
“In my mind, the biggest improvement over the old station is regarding the health and safety, short and long term, for our members as well as the public that visit,” Cagle said.
Nov. 11 was the first day that crews were responding to calls out of the new station. After already taking multiple calls in just the first day, Cagle said that the responses have been straightforward and the transition has been quite smooth so far.
The total bond approved called for $1.9 million to be spent on construction, but SCFD No. 1 announced in 2018 that they would be seeking grant funding to supplement the construction costs.
With a successful event in the books, Cagle was thankful to all who made the new station a reality.
“The props go to all our commissioners, our department staff for their patience and the public for the continuing support of our mission.”
SCFD No. 1 can be reached at 208-752-1101. For any emergency, dial 911.