NBVFD has plans for new stattion, meeting with builders

Bond vote could come next spring.

by Nathan Arneal
Published 6/6/06

A new fire station for North Bend is close enough that you can see the red flashing light at the end of the tunnel.

Pat Tawney is the president of the North Bend Rural Fire District Board, the body that oversees the North Bend Volunteer Fire Department. He said if things go to plan, NBVFD could be in a new station in a year and half.

“A lot of things have to fall into place for that to happen,” Tawney said, “but that’s an optimistic goal.”

Preliminary plans for the station have been sketched out and meetings with potential builders began this week.

The current station was built in 1971, and the department has outgrown it, Tawney said.

“We’re just ready,” he said. “They say a fire station should last 50 years when you build it. I think we’re at 53 years now. We just feel like we’re behind.”

The main issue is space. Fire trucks are bigger than they were in 1971. Storage and locker space is cramped. The NBVFD recently bought a 2019 rescue squad with a crew cab.

“We have no room for it,” Tawney said. “The two squads we have now, when they back them in, they touch bumpers. It’s dangerous. It’s foolish, actually.”

Using funds from a donation, the fire district bought the former Leroy’s Steakhouse on the southeast corner of town after the restaurant closed in 2022 with an eye to someday building a new fire station there. The restaurant building was burned down in November 2023.

Alan Kassmeier donated his time to clear the debris. Larry Dolezal said he would donate the dirt for the new station, which Tawney estimated could take between 500 and 600 loads of dirt to build the station high enough.

“We’ve had some huge donations right off the top,” Tawney said. “At this point, we have the lot bought and paid for. We have the dirt work coming, maybe even this fall.”

Preliminary plans for the new station put it just short of twice the size of the current building. It would include a meeting room big enough to rent out for events. An Emergency Medical Services office and store room will be next to where the rescue squads park. Currently, getting to the EMS supplies requires a journey to the other end of the station and through a maze of hallways.

“It’s awful,” Tawney said. “It’s a bad scenario. Now they’ll have it all in one spot.”

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