Arlee VFD to have a new fire station

By B.L. Azure

The architectural drawings of the new Arlee VFD fire station reveal design elements from fire stations of old. (B.L. Azure photo)

ARLEE — Was it a perfect storm of good circumstances or perhaps the planets were aligned in harmonic convergence or were all the Arlee VFD’s ducks in a row at the right time? Whatever it was got all the necessary ingredients together in a mix and it resulted in the bricks and mortar of a new fire station on Powwow Road.

The effort began with a dream, then desire and finally the necessity to build a new fire station in Arlee to serve the ever-expanding Jocko Valley. After the necessity came the need the money and the property to build the station. Eventually it all fell into place.

The U.S. Highway 93 reconstruction project was the impetus that got the money ball rolling in the direction of the Arlee VFD. The reconstruction project through town when completed would pose logistical problems accessing the highway corridor through town from the present location. The present U.S. 93 roadway through town will be for northbound traffic while a new southbound lane is being constructed just west of Arlee. Accessing the southbound lane with that roadway design created a logistical problem. And when answering emergency calls every second is precious.

Consequently Arlee VFD members began to lobby the Montana Department of Transportation about the problem the reconstruction project created.

“Bill Samsel has been the big push behind the effort to get the new fire station,” said Arlee VFD Chief Jim Steele. “When the Highway 93 reconstruction plans came out Bill seen the effect it would have on us here. He immediately started to lobby the state (MDT) for a new building.”

And it paid off. The state has allocated $786,000 for the project from the federal highway funds it receives. That amount was more than the VFD needed to pay for the low bid of nearly $600,000 to build the 6,400 square foot facility.

The VFD was allowed to keep that extra money and with it they will have a 20,000-gallon underground water tank, two extra truck bays, in-floor radiant heat and a propane generator, Steele said. Necessary bells and whistles.

Arlee VFD Chief James Steele thumbs through the architectural drawings of the new VFD fire station that will be built on tribally owned land on Powwow Road. (B.L. Azure photo)

The fire station will be built on the triangular piece of land owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes bordered by U.S. Highway 93, Powwow Road and Lumpry Road. The property contains the Arlee Community Center, the Arlee Head Start building and the Louise Combs living center. There are also two homes on fee property on that portion of land. The VFD will pay the Tribes $1 a year in lease payments for the land.

The new Arlee Volunteer Fire Department fire station will have eight bays to park firefighting and emergency vehicles. Garage doors will be on both sides of the building so trucks parked rear bumper to rear bumper can exit forward without having to move one out of the way of the other.

There will be an upstairs training and meeting rooms. There will be two downstairs offices, one for administration and the other for dispatch.

There will be a main entrance to the ground floor so people aren’t shuttled through the equipment area and fire equipment bays.

The new fire station will contain a separate room to house the department’s air compressor that fills the self-contained breathing apparatus equipment. The present system does not have a separate air compressor room and that causes problems related to air quality. “We won’t have to wait for the air to settle like we do now before we can fill the bottles of oxygen,” Steele said.

“This is a real nice building. We had a say in the design and the architect (Jay Kirby) tried to accommodate our needs. Some of the things we wanted were too costly but we got the majority of the things we talked about. It looks like a fire hall like they used to build and we are proud to have it as the home base of the Arlee Fire District,” Steele said. The district was formed in 1952 with 10 founding members. “We are all looking forward to moving day.”

Steele said if everything goes smooth the fire station should be completed in September. There will be an open house grand opening commemoration at that time.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council Chairman James Steele, Jr. said at the groundbreaking that CSKT members have benefited from the services of the Arlee VFD and emergency responders and that the Tribes are appreciative of that. He added that the Tribes also like to help out with the needs of the greater reservation community.

A front end loader clears scrapes the topsoil off the site on the new Arlee VFD station on Powwow Road. (B.L. Azure photo)

“It took a lot to get this done,” VFD Chief Steele said. “This wouldn’t have happened if the Tribal Council didn’t support this effort, if their land use planner didn’t get aboard, if the VFD board didn’t expend the effort, if the state said no to us and if the federal government didn’t provide the funds. It was a cooperative effort all down the line that resulted in a favorable outcome. This is a real good deal for the VFD and the people of the district.”