Newport Fire Chief Rob Murphy, right, directs Newport firefighters and Oregon Department of Forestry staff as they push a fire engine in a tradition to mark the completion of the new station at 225 N.E. 73rd St.
By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
NEWPORT– Firefighters with arms outstretched pushed their weight forward, moving a fire engine in a ceremony to mark the completion of a fire station to be shared by the Oregon Department of Forestry and Newport Fire Department.
Firefighters, city leaders, architects and planners gathered Monday for the open house at 225 N.E. 73rd St.
For more than 10 years, district forester Matt Thomas looked for a location to house the regional arm of the state agency. Its offices and station in Toledo was built in 1938, back when fires were fought on horseback and the group was a band of landowners in a grassroots effort.
When the seasonal staff arrived for fire season during the summer it would get cramped and more and more building repairs made it expensive, Thomas said. Once the department is moved out of the old space, the Toledo building will be demolished, he said.
“It is just at the end of its life,” Thomas said.
With wood panels, large windows and modern electrical and technical systems, the $8 million project is quite different from the ODF facility in Toledo. The new building will house the state agency’s five permanent staff, 10 seasonal staff and four fire engines. The building has six rooms for workforce housing divided between the ODF and Newport Fire to use.
“Toledo is used to our presence, and we have a tie to community, but we will still be serving all the same jurisdictions,” Thomas said.
The agency is responsible for fire protection in the rural areas of Lincoln County. Sometimes it responds with the Newport Fire Department, which will now share the building.
Newport owned the property but making it into a fire station was a challenge. An old building would need to be torn down and reconstructed. Similarly, ODF was also faced with an issue – finding a building available north of the Yaquina Bay Bridge. So, when ODF approached Newport fire chief Rob Murphy about sharing a station, he felt like a project was going to be a “win-win.” Now Newport is leasing the completed building from the state.
“We already respond with the Oregon Department of Forestry, so we will have more opportunity to work with each other,” said Murphy.
During the open house, a neighbor of the property expressed concern about lighting and sound from the fire engines.
The project involved taking out light poles and positioned lighting to be closer to the building. The Department of Forestry usually doesn’t use sirens although the engines are equipped with them, Murphy said. The city would try to use the sirens once outside of the neighborhood but does have to use sirens when getting onto U.S. Highway 101, he said, so it would still likely be heard.
The Newport side of the building won’t be a bustling station yet.
Newport has five full-time firefighters 24/7 at its 10th Street location. Mostly, volunteers will be using the new station and some Newport firefighters who live closer to the north side of town could use it to respond, Murphy said. One Newport engine will be housed at the facility but as the city grows and more firefighters are needed, they will start to staff the second location, Murphy told the Lincoln Chronicle.
Shortly after Newport firefighters finished the ceremonial apparatus push-in, they left the building to respond to a call. Murphy hurriedly crossed the parking lot as he shoved his laptop into his bag.
“Duty never stops,” he said.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, Newport, education, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
