Olympia Fire Department Station 4
Why Olympia needs a new station:
Olympia has not added a new station since 1970. In 1970 the department ran on less than 500 calls. In 2008 the department responded to over 8,456 calls. While Olympia’s population has grown 92% in that time period, demand for service has increased by 1600%. All areas of the city have seen increased response times as call volume has grown. The north east portion of the city has seen the most dramatic increases in call volumes and response time because there is no station nearby. The northeast section of the city, where this new station will be situated, has seen significant population growth, particularly in senior housing, historically associated with an increased number of calls.
The department has analyzed call volumes, response patterns, considered changing practices, and pushed the current units as much as possible but no solution can be found that significantly reduces the response time in the north east section of the city; short of adding a new fire station.
Size of Station:
The station designed for the northeast section of the city is just less than 12,000 square feet. This station will be able to house a 3 person fire company and a two person medic unit. The plans are also expandable to meet future predicted service demands; the design could accommodate a second fire or medic company. Plans and specifications for the project are 95% complete. The city already has the property and will be completing land use at the end of September, 2009. With land use completed, a building permit application will be filed. The project goes out to bid at the end of the year with grading on the site beginning April 1, 2010. Expected completion date is April 1, 2011. Cost of the station is expected to be around $7,500,000 the city is hoping to receive up to $4,000,000 in grant funds.
How many people will be served:
The new station will serve the entire city, not just the 25% of Olympia’s 42,000 citizens who live in the station’s response area. Currently, calls for service in the northeast section of the city are covered by units from other parts of town. When units are out of their primary response areas, calls in the primary area then have longer responses as the units shift based on call volumes and locations. Placing fire department units closer to the calls in the northeast section of the city will allow all units to remain in their primary response areas the majority of the time. This reduction in response time provides a better service to all of Olympia’s citizens, not just the neighborhoods in northeast Olympia.
Call volume expected:
1800 per year. Those calls are now being handled by units from other stations adding nearly 5 minutes to the response time*.
Expected results:
Time is a critical factor when dealing with fire and medical emergencies. Response times will be dramatically lowered in the northeast section of the city by having a station “in the neighborhood”.
Other information:
In 2008, the voters of Olympia passed a $16,500,000 bond for a new fire station, three fire apparatus and a fire training center. The funds are currently slated to be used on the station, the apparatus and about 50% of the fire training center that the fire department critically needs. Grant funding for any portion of the station will allow the city to shift bond funds to the expansion of the fire training center. This fire training center will serve Olympia firefighters and be available to other fire departments in the region. The nearest fire training center with live fire training capability is currently more than fifty miles away.