CASTLE ROCK — This month, Cowlitz County Fire District 6 signed an agreement to lease a Cowlitz County property west of town, with plans to build a storage and training facility on site.
The 1.6 acre property at 111 Gassman Road, off West Side Highway and north of Castle Rock High School, will provide better access to fire equipment on the west side of the Cowlitz River, said Fire Chief Bill LeMonds. The PH 10 Highway bridge is the only river crossing in the fire district, he said.
The Cowlitz County commissioners Tuesday approved the 25-year lease with the fire district. Cowlitz 6 won’t pay rent, instead, the county will accept fire protection services in lieu of paying the annual fire district assessment of about $16,000, said Savannah Clement, public works deputy director. The lease includes an option to extend after 25 years.
The property is just north of the county public works Castle Rock shop and was originally a county road rock/gravel pit, with much of the soil and rock dug out, according to a public works survey of the site. Over the years, the county filled some areas in with spoils of unknown material.
The new building won’t be a full fire station but will be used for vehicle storage, training and a place to stage vehicles during a flood situation or bridge work, LeMonds said. The district was looking for a site on the west side of the Cowlitz River for these purposes as the main station on A Street doesn’t have much room for training activities, he said.
After discovering that the county doesn’t currently pay the fire assessment, the district proposed a trade agreement outlined in the lease, LeMonds said.
“It’s a win-win for both,” he said. “It’s all taxpayer owned anyway.”
When the river floods or when construction crews are working on the PH 10 Highway bridge, the district stages vehicles at volunteers’ houses on the west side, LeMonds said.
Next year, the nearly 60-year-old bridge over the Cowlitz River will be intermittently closed as crews replace the bridge deck, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. Work began this fall and is set to continue through January 2024.
Once the new location is built, the district will have a better place to keep equipment, LeMonds said.
“This will give us an actual place to keep them secured and provide access for volunteers, as we have them on both sides of the river,” he said.
Under the agreement, the district has to build on the property within five years. The project doesn’t yet have a set timeline, as the district is still determining how large the building needs to be and what it will cost, LeMonds said.
“We’re not in a huge hurry, but it’s something we want to move forward with,” he said.
