LocalFireHouse.com

Growing Pains

Posted: May 23rd, 2005 :: White Lake Fire Authority

Chief Bob Phillips, White Lake Fire Authority, said storage is a major concern for the department

Empty shelving still lines the walls in a former library housed at Whitehall City Hall.
The White Lake Fire Authority’s Station One has an office for its deputy chief carved out of a bay where trucks and equipment are stored.

White Lake Ambulance Authority has enough room for staff, but lacks sufficient equipment space in the garage.

Last week those groups agreed to pool their money to fund a study to investigate the potential of re-arranging or adding space to each of the entities to meet current and future space needs.

Whitehall City Manager Scott Huebler said it is the city’s desire to keep all the emergency services and city hall services in the same location.

Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr and Huber, Inc., noted in its document to the city the firm will be reviewing mechanical deficiencies within each of the buildings being incorporated into the study. Huebler said City Hall has some mechanical concerns. Heating and ventilation problems are a top priority for staff.

Brian Binns, White Lake Ambulance Authority executive director, said his office has adequate room for its full time staff in the facility on Baldwin and Spring streets. He said the authority is most in need of storage for a pickup truck and a mass casualty trailer. He said a second trailer may be soon be on the way for the authority. Currently the truck and trailer remain housed out of doors at the facility.

“The trailer we have now may be converted to a rehab unit for firefighters,” said Binns. “When firefighters are at the scene of a fire, especially in summer, they can easily become too warm. We may be able to acquire some specialized air conditioning equipment through Emergency Services at the county level so we can turn the existing trailer into a place for firefighters to cool down.”

Jeff Goss, chairman of the White Lake Fire Authority (WLFA) board, said he’s excited about the possibilities of keeping emergency services located in the Colby/Baldwin/Spring street complex.

“This is a great opportunity,” he said. “By looking at all of our needs, together, in one study, it is less likely to have things drop through the cracks.”

Goss said the department needs to have more and larger bays for apparatus, ventilation to properly exhaust the diesel fumes from trucks, storage and training areas and space to house full time personnel.

“Basically, when you look at constructing a fire station, today, you are looking at building a house for staff as well as for housing of equipment,” said Goss.

Currently, the fire chief operates out of a small room in the Baldwin Street station (No. 1). The department’s deputy chief has carved out a makeshift office in the bay area of the garage using partitions.

Whitehall City Hall is in pretty good shape, said Huebler. “We don’t see paving the entire block. We definitely want to keep the tennis courts. A lot of people use them in the summer.” Huebler said the city formerly used space on the second story of the ambulance facility to store documents. The city remodeled the office area of the former city operated library and now uses that space for its document storage.

Each unit is contributing about one-third of the cost of the study, $3,950. Findings are to be complete within about six weeks.

Tom Smith with Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr and Huber noted the study will define project goals, conduct building assessments, research applicable codes, and prepare a final report about each units needs and goals and how those goals might be achieved.

Any construction costs would be the responsibility of the individual entity.

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