The Chehalis Fire Station has not been occupied by the city fire department since August.
The City of Chehalis is in the early stages of acquiring an unidentified parcel of land at the intersection of Chamber of Commerce Way and State Avenue for a new fire station, according to City Manager Jill Anderson and Fire Chief Ken Cardinale.
Anderson stated during a city council meeting Monday that an appraisal has been ordered and the owner of the site is interested in selling the property. Details such as a specific address and asking price were not provided during the public portion of Monday’s meeting, but were to be discussed during an executive session later that evening. Anderson did not return a call seeking further comment prior to press time.
The Chehalis Fire Department has been operating out of the Lewis County Fire District 6 station on Jackson highway for more than a year following accidental asbestos contamination at the station in downtown Chehalis. Further study of the 90-year-old structure led to city staff deeming it unfit for future use by the fire department.
Cardinale, who currently leads both the Chehalis Fire Department and Fire District 6 while the latter searches for a permanent chief, said that locating his department at the proposed site across Interstate 5 from the Twin City Town Center shopping development would serve it well both in the short and long terms. He cited factors such as the prospect of future consolidation with Fire District 6, being able to respond to both sides of Interstate 5 without needing to cross railroad tracks and being able to better fulfill mutual aid agreements with neighboring fire departments as factors working in favor of the proposed location.
“We have to take into account that the last station was there for 90-some years, so we look at where we are today and where we could be 90 years down the road,” Cardinale said. “It puts us in a very good position to work with the neighbors we respond all the time with. It wouldn’t do (Fire District 6) or RFA well if we were too close to either of their main stations. Spacing out so that we’re within a few minutes, give or take, of a response puts us in the best place to support our citizens.”
Cardinale surmised that the biggest advantage to a new station at Chamber of Commerce Way and State Avenue would be avoidance of rail crossings. Responding vehicles leaving from the old location on Park Street were often delayed by trains when looking to travel west of downtown.
A timeline for construction of a new fire station wouldn’t necessarily be contingent on the ongoing consolidation talks between the City of Chehalis and Fire District 6, Cardinale said, because there are already two large-scale fire stations on either side of Chehalis.
According to Cardinale, the city would look to build a slightly smaller facility on the proposed site that would have some administrative offices as well as a training room that could also be used as meeting space by local organizations. He hopes to see consolidation happen during his tenure in Chehalis and is confident that it will come to pass in the near future, regardless of who is at the helm.
“From the Thurston County line all the way down to Napavine will be one department someday,” Cardinale said. “It is naturally right with the current positions of the fire stations and staffing along the areas in which we have to serve. There just isn’t the financial revenue that comes to the districts to provide us with the necessary staffing to adequately staff each individual agency. A one-department model will be the most economical and would provide the best services for the citizens of the Chehalis Valley.”
