Fire Stations Sees Light At The End Of The Tunnel

A view as work continues inside the new portion of the fire station.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – For the Oskaloosa Fire Department, the past 4 years have proven to be a challenge since it’s second building was found to be structurally deficient.

The contents of the building, including trucks and equipment, had to find a home within the confines of the City Hall, and the original 1909 fire station.

A bond referendum was passed by the voters of Oskaloosa in November of 2014 that paved the way to add on to the existing station.

Since that vote, the plans for the station had to be changed because the estimates by the architect and real world bidding would have put the project 1 million dollars in the hole before any dirt had been turned.

After review, some amenities of the new station were put on hold until the time they could be afforded, while still offering the best fire protection possible for the citizens and businesses of Oskaloosa.

Now, approximately 3 months from occupying the new space, and those pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are coming together.

Oskaloosa Fire Chief Mark Neff, can be found answering questions and providing input about how best some of those final pieces should fit, as construction winds down. An example may be answering questions from the communications vendor, about radio placement, and the transition from the old to new station.

The plan continues to be that the fire department will be occupying the new portion of the fire station around the end of February.

From there, construction turns towards renovating the old 1909 portion of the fire station.

“Right now, I’m in the squeeze zone of making that transition”, says Neff.

“Now we’re getting into all those little details,” which may include the realization that an electrical outlet may not have been included where will ultimately be needed.

Neff said it will be nice to have the new portion of the station completed, “get some room”.

Firefighters often return to the station after time off, only to have to relocate their gear, which may have been moved because of the ongoing construction. “We’ve got a lot of stuff shoved in different corners”, said Neff.

When it comes to more space, the door opening size is one of those items that will be greatly improved.

Currently, the newest apparatus for the Oskaloosa Fire Department fits inside the opening width way, but with only inches to spare. The height of the truck is a different story.

During the initial cement work for the new station, the concrete under the door was dug out, so the truck could get needed space to back in.

The new engine, Engine 74, arrived in April. The plan had been for that truck to have been parked in the new station upon it’s arrival. The delay caused by bid coming in higher than expected, caused the truck to be squeezed into the old bay.

“We’ll go from 10 foot by 10 foot doors to 14 foot by 16 foot doors.

That increase in door size indicated how things have changed since the horse drawn fire fighting equipment first used in the 1909 structure to the modern trucks of today.

For Chief Neff, a bit of his legacy will be in the new structure. With input from the staff, and a view of building for tomorrow and not just today mentality, Neff hopes that the new addition will serve the residents of Oskaloosa and Mahaska County much like the original 1909 structure has served.

“I don’t know who the fire chief was,” said Neff of the design process for the 1909 structure. “When the folks that designed this station in 1909, they designed it probably looking towards the future, but they had no way of knowing of what a 108 years would be, but I say they didn’t do too bad.”

“They made it 107 years before a truck wouldn’t actually fit in here”, said Neff.

“I guess I would be happy, I guess I don’t have any false pretenses. If that thing is still working 111 years from now, I would say the city made some pretty good decisions.”

The building project will ultimately cost the City of Oskaloosa approximately 2.9 million dollars.

At a meeting earlier in the week, it was brought up about how the city was benefiting from an improved fire rating from the insurance companies ISO rating. The rating has dropped from a 6 to a 4 for policyholders in regards to fire protection. That could equate to 10 to 15 percent in savings for that portion of the policy.

While no dollar amount may be known, homeowners and business will be able to take advantage of that rating in their insurance premiums.

Neff said that the work going into bringing the best fire protection and safety services is “something we should be doing”.