Darren Bush, a fire fighter with Clark County Fire District 6.
Clark County Fire District 6 has purchased two new properties in the Salmon Creek area, inching closer toward a planned upgrade to its fire station in the bustling neighborhood.
Fire officials confirmed Wednesday the agency bought a lot at 1119 N.E. 136th St. for $630,000 on Dec. 15, as well as an adjoining lot for $133,500 in November.
The two new lots will help the district start building a replacement to Station 63 in about 18 months, officials said. The single-engine station, built in the 1970s, has reportedly become less and less practical as the Salmon Creek populace grows.
“The station we have there now is totally inefficient for us,” said Fire Chief Jerry Green in an interview Wednesday.
With the two land acquisitions, combined with the lot on which Station 63 currently sits and another lot acquired in 2007, the fire district now owns 3 contiguous acres between Northeast 134th Street and Northeast 136th Street.
Green said the district will build the new-and-improved station just north of the existing building. Once completed, the existing station will convert to a training center. The new station will have training components, as well, Green said.
The size and price tag of the new fire station have not been hammered out. The existing Station 63 is about 6,000 square feet. The district has contracted Vancouver-based architecture firm Mackenzie, Green said.
The lot purchased in December includes buildings that formerly belonged to construction company Spacemaster Foundations. Green said the district has no plans for the buildings yet.
Voters approved a higher property tax levy for the fire district in November 2015, creating a reported $2 million windfall to be put toward the new station. Green said Wednesday that Station 63 — one of district’s three stations — was nearly as busy as the station in Hazel Dell despite having just one fire engine.
“It’s neck-and-neck every month,” Green said.
Leading up to the vote, fire commissioners said that calls for service in the district had grown 31 percent in the last decade. Calls for service from Station 63 alone have risen 35 percent since 2011, according to Green.
The district serves about 67,000 people, Green said, in a 37-square-mile area north of the Vancouver city limits. It serves Hazel Dell, Salmon Creek, Felida, Sherwood, Lake Shore and the Fairgrounds area. The two other stations are located in Hazel Dell and Felida.
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