New fire station to serve growing stretch of Clallam
Patrick Adams, a spiritual leader of the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, sings a family song, "Walk in Peace with the Great Spirit," during Monday's grand opening of the Blyn fire station on U.S. Highway 101. Behind him are firefighter-paramedic Kevin Van De Wege, also a state legislator, and Assistant Fire Chief Roger Moeder. -- Photo by Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News
By Diane Urbani de la Paz, Peninsula Daily News
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The new Clallam County Fire District No. 3 station on U.S. Highway 101 in Blyn will save lives, Chief Steve Vogel said Monday morning.
During a grand opening ceremony that included a fire hose uncoupling — rather than a ribbon-cutting — a Christian prayer and a Jamestown S'Klallam song titled "Walk in Peace with the Great Spirit," Vogel praised the collaborators who made the station happen: the Jamestown tribe, his fire crew and the Clallam County commissioners.
The station will sharply reduce emergency response times to Diamond Point and the rest of East Clallam County, Vogel said.
Near gas station, casino
The fire hall, on U.S. Highway 101 at Sophus Road next door to the Longhouse Market and Deli and gasoline station, is the product of a $1 million investment by the tribe, which owns the Longhouse and the nearby 7 Cedars Casino.
Fire District No. 3 added about $402,000 to finish the interior, Vogel said.
Construction began in February and the station was done in 70 days, he added.
Volunteer firefighters have been assigned to Blyn since April, but the tribe and fire district waited until the station was staffed 24 hours a day with two career firefighters to have the grand opening.
The new facility will not only shorten response times, to fires, auto accidents and medical emergencies in the station's vicinity, the chief said.
Its presence could also reduce homeowners' insurance premiums across eastern Clallam, where subdivisions have multiplied.
Firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians are now spread out among District 3 stations, at 70 Carlsborg Road, at 323 N. Fifth Ave. in Sequim and the Blyn station.
Carlsborg and Blyn each have two on staff while Fifth Avenue has four.
More career firefighters
To cover the district, three new career firefighters have just been hired, said District 3 operations chief Ben Andrews.
"We're going to look at hiring three more," he added.
Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown tribe, gave a short speech on give and take in Clallam County.
"We benefit a great deal from the economy of this community," he said. "We want to make sure we give back."
Allen added that "the county is growing pretty doggone fast to the east," referring to the hundreds of homesites in tracts such as Solana and Cedar Ridge on Sequim's eastern edge.
"We will only be six or seven minutes away" from those houses, added Andrews.
"We're putting Blyn back on the map," Allen said, adding, "We're not done."
'Dressed out'
The space between the fire station and the Longhouse will be "dressed out," with landscaping in preparation for a couple of possibilities: an espresso stand and a smoke shop.
Cigarette sales are still a major revenue stream for the tribe, said Jerry Allen, 7 Cedars' assistant general manager.
The two-story, 7,563-square-foot fire station was designed by Port Angeles architect Mike Gentry, and is outfitted with Energy Star fuel-saving appliances, compact fluorescent lights and a water-conserving washer, Andrews said.
"We've formed a conservation committee," to look for ways to save energy at Clallam's fire stations, he said.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: September 08. 2008 9:00PM