Vehicles outside the Chehalis Fire Department sit inside a fenced-off perimeter in August 2018 after asbestos testing registered trace amounts of exposure in the building, enough to require the city to hire a licensed contractor to address the contamination.
The Chehalis Fire Department is still operating out of Lewis County Fire District 6 headquarters and there are no immediate plans for it to move back to downtown Chehalis more than four months after evacuating the 455 NW Park St. building due to asbestos contamination.
Renovation work has continued there since cleanup efforts related to the asbestos wrapped up in September. The city council approved an interlocal agreement between the city and Fire District 6 in mid-September that allowed the Chehalis Fire Department to continue using the county facility at 2123 Jackson Hwy until Nov. 1 at a rate of $1,400 per month.
Chehalis Fire Chief Ken Cardinale made recommendations last month to city manager Jill Anderson regarding the future of the historic fire station. Anderson is expected to provide a report updating the situation at a city council meeting in the near future, but details remain vague.
“That building is old down there,” Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes said Friday during a mayors meeting held by the Lewis County Commission. “It’s had some issues that concerned us for a number of years. … One of the things that’s come out of this is the fact that teaming together and becoming residents out in District 6 has given the firefighters a chance to train together and live together. I think that could bode well for us in the future.”
Dawes went on to say that he hopes to see the two fire agencies merge before his term on the city council expires on Dec. 31, 2021. He cited the successful pairing of the Centralia Fire Department Lewis County Fire District 12 about 10 years ago as an example of why he’s in favor of the long-running discussions between the two Chehalis-area agencies ending in a partnership.
One known aspect of the short-term plans for Chehalis Fire is Cardinale moving his administrative office into City Hall. That is expected to be a temporary move while the city explores more substantial stopgap measures.
Cardinale declined to answer questions about the information he provided Anderson, stating it would be inappropriate for him to comment prematurely.
Using portable structures to erect temporary quarters for Chehalis firefighters either at Fire District 6 or another location was discussed last year and is likely to be one of the main options on the table when the city council takes up the issue.
