A Chehalis Fire Department truck is parked outside, while a Lewis County Fire District 6 truck is parked inside the Fire District 6 station on Jackson Highway in May.
The Lewis County Fire District 6 Board of Commissioners has voted to end its station sharing agreement with the Chehalis Fire Department — giving them until July 5 to find a new location.
The City of Chehalis has been in the process of finding a new fire station since the old fire station was deemed unsafe due to asbestos. Chehalis firefighters moved into Fire District 6’s Jackson Highway station in August of 2018.
“They have given the 60 days notice consistent with the terms of the contract so we are looking at a variety of options for an emergency station … including a reevaluation of the old station,” said Chehalis City Manager Jill Anderson.
Anderson said that more information and location options for an emergency fire station will most likely be presented to the council at the next city council meeting — Tuesday, May 25 at 5 p.m.
“We are looking at some of the sites that we looked at in 2017 when this issue first came up and that includes a piece of land that the city owns over at the airport for an emergency temporary station. There is also a piece of property, a vacant parking lot that the county owns, that might a possibility,” said Anderson.
Anderson also mentions the possibility of a location at Cascade School but has not been in contact with the school as of the Monday night council meeting.
“We are continuing to process information regarding the potential purchase of a site for a new fire station so there are a lot of fire station issues going on … the timing of this, of course, is somewhat challenging because of COVID-19,” said Anderson.
Anderson emphasized the importance of providing a safe location for the Chehalis firefighters so they may provide service to the community.
In the notice of termination of the station use, Lewis County Fire District 6 Board Chair Jim Martin said that he expects the Chehalis Fire Department to remove all city apparatus, equipment, and personnel from the station on or before July 5.
“We look forward to a cooperative and seamless transition as we wind down the current relationship and we look forward to continuing our positive working relationship in the future,” read the letter from Martin to the City of Chehalis.
During the Monday afternoon city council meeting Councilor Isaac Pope said that it is his impression that there is a “lack of trust and integrity on the parts of some people in dealing with this situation.”
Chehalis Mayor Pro-tem Chad Taylor said that it sounded to him like working conditions for the Chehalis firefighters were “pretty bad” and he did not want the city to be liable for firefighters working in a “hostile work environment” by not finding a new station location fast enough.
When Chehalis Fire Chief and District 6 Interim Fire Chief, Ken Cardinale, was asked if “hostile” described the current work environment at the station, he said that he did not want to comment because it deals with personnel.
