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New Four Mile Fire Station Will Be An Upgrade, Indoor Plumbing And All

Bret Gibson
/
Four Mile Fire Department

The Four Mile Fire District is situated in the mountains just west of Boulder and has been hit hard in recent years. There's some good news though – groundbreaking on a new $1.5 million fire station will begin on Halloween Friday.

"The Fourmile Fire was the first truly major devastating event that we've ever experienced. And fighting that fire for 10 days out in the field with no base, no place to go back to. This new station is really going to help solve that problem," said Fire Chief Bret Gibson.

"...we'll have an opportunity to meet indoors, have indoor plumbing, a kitchen, all the things real fire stations need."

During the 2010 fire, the district lost one of four fire stations as well as 169 homes. The lost station was replaced and then severely damaged during the 2013 flooding – which also destroyed a dozen homes as well as every bridge in the canyon and miles of roadway.

Gibson said the construction of a new station is "a major step in Four Mile's ability to provide first-rate service to our neighbors our friends and our constituents."

The new facility is a big step up from the military Quonset hut the district had been using.

"From an emotional standpoint we're like kids at a candy store. Soon we'll have a real facility, and we're so excited to move out ….It's just an awful smelly old building that really had a life span of five years and here we are 70 years later still using it," Gibson said.

Gibson is thrilled that the new facility would provide firefighters with work out and recreation rooms, as well as more basic accommodations.

Credit Bret Gibson / Four Mile Fire Department
/
Four Mile Fire Department
The 70 year old Quonset hut, the district has been using as a primary response station for over half a century.

"This is our first station that we'll have an opportunity to meet indoors, have indoor plumbing, a kitchen, all the things real fire stations need to have so we can staff it 24 hours."

The district employs five firefighters during the week, while 40 volunteer firefighters are on deck the rest of the time.

Funding for the project comes from the estate of a deceased firefighter, taxes, a grant from the department of local affairs and private donations. The station will be operational June 2015.

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