Fire Dept. opens training center, HQ

SHORELINE — It’s finally complete, and it’s more than just a fire department headquarters.

Not only does the new 20,500-square foot building at 17525 Aurora Ave. N house administration, fire prevention and the district’s medical services offices, the biggest addition is what makes this headquarters a regional asset — the training facility.

Since the terrorist attacks on the East Coast, September has become a time to honor heroes, especially firefighters. But those heroes in Shoreline want to say thank you back to the community, for building the new Training and Support Facility, said Fire Chief J.B. Smith.

The Shoreline Fire Department is having an open house and fire fighting demonstration event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 28 at the new facility and Shoreline residents are invited to celebrate with firefighters, tour the facility and watch firefighters demonstrate several training maneuvers.

The $5.4 million project completes the fire department’s capital improvement plan within the budget set by voters. The training and support facility, along with the remodel of Station 63, and the newly built stations 64 and 65 were funded by a $13.8 million bond, approved by voters in May of 1997.

Back in 1996 the fire district determined it needed additional stations. Because of increased traffic congestion in Shoreline, call volumes were going up by six percent a year, and response time was also increasing, said Smith. At the same time, federal safety requirements also grew, and the demands for training were also on the rise.

“With the demand on the fire service — the growth in call volume and the response time due to traffic — we needed more than two active stations,” said Smith. “And with federal safety demands, our training needs dramatically increased, we found our facilities were inadequate.”

Voters approved the bond and the fire department built two new fire stations and remodeled an existing station.

But the biggest project was rebuilding the headquarters — and it’s more than just a fire department headquarters. The new building houses administration, fire prevention and training and the district’s medical services offices, which account for 80 percent of all calls.

The building was also built so that in the future, if there is a need for it, the district could turn this building into a response facility and house firefighters and the ladder truck, Smith said.

In addition, the city of Shoreline went in with the fire department to locate an emergency operations center in the facility, so that if a major earthquake or other emergency occurred, the city would have a place to coordinate responses.

But the biggest change is what makes this headquarters a regional asset — the training facility.

All that’s left of the old fire station site is the tower. But looks may be deceiving. That station site is now an active training lot. with an underground maze of pipes from 18 inches in diameter to four feet, some straight, some with 90 degree angles that fire fighters can use for training exercises. The Shoreline Fire Department can now offer special operations training like vaults and trench rescue training, confined space rescue training and building collapse training. There’s also an underground water vault that can hold 2,000 gallons of water for testing fire engine pumping, and the water can be recycled.

The pavement is eight-inch thick concrete, so that the fire department can offer extensive, on-site driver traininge and not tear up parking lots elsewhere, Smith said.

Two structures have been added to the training tower, one that mimics a residential structure with balconies used for rappelling and high-angel rescue training. A commercial structure with loading dock was also added to the tower so that firefighters can practice commercial fire fighting.

The only thing that can’t be done at the site is live fire training, Smith said, but a live fire training trailer can be hooked right up to the building for power and propane gas, to simulate a real fire.

Smith says the training facility will be useful to many fire departments, not just his. He points out that in the past, he had to send firefighters as far away as North Bend for training.

“Now we can host that special operations training here, in Shoreline,” he said. “I’m really proud we accomplished what we told the public we would do, in budget.”