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Photos by Bob Pennell Ashland paramedics Kelly Burns, left, and Todd Beck return from a grade school safety demonstration to change clothes in the cramped sleeping area of Ashland Fire Station 1. Curtains were added when the station went co-ed. Fire stations are cramped Ashland likely to ask voters for safer ones By JOHN DARLING ASHLAND -- The city's two creaky, cramped fire stations will be torn down and new ones built on the same sites, fire officials say, relieving a laundry list of safety and space problems in the stations. The city is likely to ask voters to approve a $6 million bond for the project in fiscal year 2000-2001. The project could be completed by mid-2002. The city hopes to add nearby land and triple the size of both stations, which will require them to temporarily house equipment and people elsewhere for a year, said Fire Chief Keith Woodley. Engineer Dan Curtis, an Ashland firefighter for 25 years, works out in the Station 1 weight room, which also houses two computer work stations and a bunk. "Both stations are in poor condition and bursting at the seams, due to growth of the departments and taking over ambulance service (in 1996)," said Assistant City Administrator Greg Scoles. "We are facing safety and public access issues and we are deferring maintenance because we are planning new buildings." Station 1, at 5,400 square feet, was built as a gas station in 1947. Station 2 was built in 1966 and has 2,900 square feet. The owners of Blue Mountain Cafe next to Station 1 at East Main and Siskiyou are receptive to sale, Woodley said, but owners of Ross Johnston Tire, next to Station 2 on Highway 66 at Sherwood, were not interested in selling. The city is considering using 50 feet of Sherwood Park for expansion of Station 2, he added. This coming fiscal year, Woodley hopes to retain an architect for the job, get architectural drawings done and present financing alternatives to the city council. "We've been pretty patient," he said. "Money is always in short supply, but the project is getting to the top of the list, after the building of the new library." Bonds for the city library go to a public vote this May. Woodley recently pointed out the difficult working environment for firefighters. Diesel fumes leak into all areas of the buildings, including where sensitive breathing and medical equipment is stored. He also pointed out ground water covering engine bay floors and firefighters using a kitchen for office space. Teaching space for cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills is cramped and hard to reach, he said, and emergency vehicles are stored outside where they are exposed to theft and weather. New storage and office spaces have been jury-rigged in every corner. "Safety is the big issue," he said. "Drainage, light, heat and electric systems are all archaic. There is no insulation in either station. We are more proud of who we are than of the buildings we work in. "The nagging issue is that the buildings reflect who we are and it's getting to the point where it's affecting the quality of service we provide. We're like that Wisconsin farmhouse, where rooms are added for each new child and finally heat doesn't circulate, it's hard to get around and you've created more problems than you had." A fourth fire engine is due for purchase in 2001 and Woodley said there is no place to house an additional vehicle until the new stations are online. Urban Planning Associates in 1993 determined the present sites were ideal for lowest emergency response times. Studies by Ted Malarz, an Ashland architect, in 1995 and 1998 ruled out remodeling. "When I got here eight years ago," said Woodley, "the situation was a concern, which grew to an inconvenience and now has become a major limiting factor." Firefighter Matt Freiheit said, "It's real difficult here to find personal space to work or study and the diesel soot makes you really wonder about your health. It's just filthy and we try to keep it out by patching wall cracks around the engine bay." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA