Jacksonville’s New State-of-the-Art Fire Hall – September 2022
JACKSONVILLE’S EARLIEST FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS A HOOK AND LADDER, dating from about 1860, making it among the oldest in Oregon. Engine Company #1 is still running strong. Jacksonville citizens have much to be proud of in their historic town, and members of the community have a way of joining forces to make good things happen. The most recent achievement is a brilliant new firehouse.
City Administrator, Jeff Alvis shared the ins and outs of the funding process. Fire Chief Wayne Painter played a major role in moving things along and securing several grants. Recently, I visited with Wayne and Jeff to hear their story and get a peek at the new fire hall.
After thirty plus years of moving up in service with the Medford Fire Department, and retiring as Captain, Wayne Painter thought he might enjoy a little more camping and fishing in his spare time. But the old fire station in Jacksonville needed emergency services in the form of a complete overhaul. Three and a half years ago, he saw the need, had the experience, and came on board as Fire Chief Painter to lend a hand to a town he loves. “I started out in fire service when I was sixteen,” Wayne explained. “Then I worked for Oregon Department of Forestry for seven years fighting wildfires while I went to college. I got two degrees from Chemeketa Community College in fire suppression and prevention.” Wayne is still part of Northwest Team Seven, a federal emergency management team. He’ll likely return to the wilds after his Jacksonville work is finished.
He shared about the former fire hall. “The old building was one story. It was 70 something years old and way outdated,” Wayne said. “You could see daylight through the walls and the roof was leaking. If we would have had an earthquake, it would have fallen down.”
With a motivated team including Wayne, Jeff Alvis, Finance Director, Stacey Bray and a host of other players, the ball began swinging in the right direction—to raze most of the dilapidated to make way for the new and vastly improved.
In 2018, Jeff Alvis and Stacey Bray drove to Portland to learn firsthand about the Oregon State Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program. “We met with Gloria Zacharias,” Jeff explained. “What a good person to have running a grant program like that.” Later, Jeff asked Stacey to invite Gloria to Jacksonville—a trip Gloria had wanted to make anyway. He said, “If we get her here, we’ll get that grant.” He was right. Jeff showed Gloria the town, and when they landed in front of the firehouse, her response was, “Exactly! This is exactly what the grant program is all about.”
As a result, the city secured a sizeable boost, which covered the cost for a majority of the lower level replacement. The new station has a second level for dorms and dining space, paid for with existing funds from urban renewal. The city saved “a ton of money” by having the contractor work with ZCS Engineering in advance of the build. Troy Newman with S&B James Construction oversaw the project.
“There’s really no additional cost to the taxpayer at all, Wayne said. “So, between the urban renewal funds and the seismic grant, you’re going to have a brand new station.”
That wasn’t the extent of community resourcefulness, however. The City of Jacksonville Boosters Club donated $20,000 to the Josephine County Foundation, which matched the amount. That money will buy a generator to be located on the roof of the building. Pacific Power also contributed to the cause. “This will be one of the first city-owned buildings that will have 24/7 power,” Wayne explained. “So, this building will become the city’s emergency operation center. The whole building is wired for data.”
The Josephine County Foundation is also footing the bill for new weight equipment for the gym and a turn-out gear extractor, which is an oversized washing machine. When firefighters return from a job, they’re covered in carcinogens and other hazardous material. The new washer allows them to launder their own equipment rather than send it out and wait three or four days. Wayne continued. “It’s potentially saving our firemen from getting cancer. The other thing that Josephine County Foundation did was to supply a compressor. We have these cylinders we wear on our backs. It’s regular breathing air. That’s how we can go into fires. We used to have to go to Applegate to get them filled, but with the money they gave us, we can do everything in-house. They’ve been very helpful.”
Though the foundation is named for Josephine County, not Jackson, Wayne explained its unique operation as a regional benefactor. “Frank Ault and the foundation board run this program using high school kids.” Students with the JCF identify community needs and perform service projects to address those needs. “So it’s teaching the kids all about business and dealing with community service, Wayne added. “It’s a win-win, and they help small fire departments. They allowed us to go through them because we’re such a small department.”
There were equipment grants from the Cheney, West, and Dubs Foundations and Firehouse Subs. They also received a grant of $35,000 from the State Fire Marshal. “Now we have two rigs on the street. The fire marshal has given us the money, as well as other departments, to up our staffing during the summer so we can get on them fast and keep the fires small.”
Jeff Alvis mentioned that they received $600,000 in additional funds from the Federal American Rescue Plan Fund—money made available during the Covid-19 crisis, a portion of which was used for the fire station. Jeff added, “There were mixed blessings in the timing. We literally got our contract in and set up and had numbers projected ahead before the nastiness hit from Covid. Everything went up. You couldn’t get anything. You couldn’t get parts, you couldn’t get doors, you couldn’t get anything. We locked in a bunch of our prices earlier.”
All totaled, a project that cost 2.6 million was more than half covered by grants.
From economics talk we moved inside the firehouse, where Chief Painter ushered me through, telling how everything has its perfectly planned location. With his years of experience, he knows what needs to be in a station to help things run comfortably, efficiently, and safely for all concerned.
The new design introduces a slide instead of the classic firehouse pole for a quick descent. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) saw too many foot and ankle injuries from hard landings. Jacksonville may boast the only firehouse in the state with a slide. Alas, it was not yet installed during my visit.
Because of Jacksonville’s historic designation, the plan needed approval from the State Historic Preservation Offices. Three original brick walls and some windows remain. The new structure was retrofitted into them, partly to qualify for the seismic grant, and strengthening the old walls in the bargain. Wayne continued. “We got some grants for archeologists, to help pay for that, because we’re in a historical district, and anytime we remove six inches of dirt, we have to have an archeologist on site.” He showed me a large, lighted display cabinet that will hold artifacts discovered during construction, as well as showcasing Jacksonville’s fire department history.
The entire project was done with thoughtful consideration to Jacksonville’s historic significance—even to the extent of saving one special tree. “It would have made our life easier if we could have gotten rid of this tree here.” Chief Painter pointed to a large evergreen at the side of the building. “The reason we didn’t was because it was used as the town Christmas tree many years ago. It’s got a lot of history.” In fact, they’re opening the ground around the tree to allow for a better chance at survival. “We’re going to plant fire-wise landscaping, so if you’re trying to make your house fire-wise, you can come here and see what we’ve done. We’ve got to practice what we preach.”
They’ve accomplished a tremendous amount in less than a year. As of this writing, Chief Painter didn’t have a hard date for opening, but the new showpiece should be ready by the time this article appears, and we are assured of an open house. “The city should be proud of what we’re going to have there,” Jeff concluded. “How the staff worked hard and how the council was instrumental in helping us keep the station in the same location.”
All of Southern Oregon should celebrate the hard work and combined effort involved to bring about such a state-of-the-art facility. Our regional fire departments are always at-the-ready to help one another out. Bravo to everyone involved!
Featured image is City Administrator Jeff Alvis with Fire Chief Wayne Painter in front of Jacksonville’s new fire station. Tony Kay Photography.