Plans for third fire station complete

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When the Maricopa Fire District’s Board of Directors met Thursday, their main focus was the plan for the third fire station. Ben Barcone of ADM was present to show the directors the updated site plan. Assisting him in the presentation was Jennifer Bowen, who has worked specifically on this project. Plan review should go to the city the first week in September with groundbreaking anticipated for mid to late October.

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Jennifer Bowen of the ADM group discusses the floor plan for Station 3.

Station 2 at Alterra received its certificate of occupancy a week ago; firefighters will soon be moving into their new facility. Station 3 will be located at the intersection of Porter and Smith-Enke Roads. The 11,148 square foot building will also have a 64 by 64 square foot helipad with a river rock perimeter. According to Chief of Operations Dan Ashton, “Putting a bird down on 347 puts everyone at risk, firefighters and citizens who are watching what’s going on.”

Battalion Chief quarters and a conference room have also been added to this particular station. The cost of the new Station 3 is expected to be $3,367,352, about $70 per square foot more than the cost of Station 2, which was about two million dollars.

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Fire Station 3 will look much like Station 2 with an addition (on left).

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Fire Station 3 will also have its own helipad.

Station 4 at Tortosa provides service and coverage for that area although it is a temporary site. “We have the coverage, just not the brick and mortar,” explained Finance Director Pat Krueger. Eagle Shadows development has yet to identify a fire station site at that location.

The board approved the purchase of a network version of Firehouse computer software in an amount not to exceed $30,000. Presently the network is limited to three users; the new software will up that number to 25 users. Firehouse records occupancies, inspections and the reports after every call the department makes. “Everything we do from engines to inventory is tracked on this system,” noted Ashton. Information from this program is forwarded to the federal government.

Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses (SCBA’s) were also approved for purchase in an amount not to exceed $55,000. The department has only one spare facemask. However, Captain Chip Wright is trained to do repair work on those masks. In fact, he has been asked to teach a class on facemask repair for the State Fire Marshall.

A Mack Truck, currently in the hands of the Riverside Fire Department near Florence, was placed into surplus property. The older model vehicle can be gifted to a public safety entity if they have non-profit status. If Riverside has that status, they will probably retain the truck.

Staff will also be looking into the disposition and possible sale of 3.3 acres of land owned by the Fire District. The parcel is located in Stanfield off Highway 84 and was gifted to the department when it was an all-volunteer group.

The State Fire Marshall’s Office has formalized an agreement with the Maricopa Fire Department to conduct fire inspections in state or county owned buildings and public schools. This action delegates the authority to the local department although they have been doing the inspections previously. Board Chairman Don Pearce explained, “This gives more authority for enforcement.”

Examples of such inspections are the fire drills conducted for new teachers by Chief of Fire Safety Eddie Rodriguez. He noted that some of the teachers had never done a fire drill before; they are also working on added accountability for students during the drills.

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The Fire District’s Board of Directors (from left) Clerk Sandra Baker-Probasco, John Sampson, Chairman Don Pearce, Oliver Anderson and J.W. Salazar look over their agendas.

Finance Director Krueger asked for and got an increase in the operational portion of the developers’ fees while decreasing the capital portion by the same amount. “We’re a little tighter on the operational end,” she explained. Additional staffing accounts for most of those operational increases.

Chief Ashton told the board that the department answered 139 calls in July. For 80 percent of those calls the response time was five minutes or less. “Hats off to the Battalion Chiefs and Captains,” said Ashton. “They have the rookies sleeping with radios by their heads.”