Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District dedicated its new Cascadia Substation Saturday afternoon.
Guests from the Sweet Home community showed up to look around and chat while Elmer Reimer barbecued hot dogs for visitors.
The substation is the fulfillment of a promise made during the campaign to form the fire district.
In 1997, the City of Sweet Home did a feasibility study to decide how better fire and ambulance service might be provided, Fire Chief Mike Beaver said. At the time, the department was dependent on a three-year serial levy for funding.
?Ever three years, paid firefighters didn?t know if they?d have a job,? Chief Beaver said. In November 2000, a new fire and ambulance district, separate from the city, with its own permanent tax rate was approved by voters.
This included three different ballot titles and a 50 percent turnout among registered voters as well as majority support, Chief Beaver said.
?We had a couple of big goals,? Chief Beaver said. ?One of them was to get a facility up here to provide better medical and fire coverage?.
?We?re satisfied where we are. I can sit down and show you what we?ve accomplished in three years.?
Other goals were new paramedic positions and replacing and upgrading equipment, Chief Beaver said. The district has hired two new paramedics and has a new rescue pumper. It has purchased a new ambulance, and will purchase another new one soon. It also has replaced air packs that were two standards behind.
The new substation has three volunteers with one entering training soon, Chief Beaver said. Already trained and working as volunteers are Dan Powers of the Mountain House and Dave and Lowene Blalock of Cascadia. Kim Powers will begin training soon.
?I?d like to have eight to 10 people who can be committed,? Chief Beaver said. ?The training is a lot more extensive than it used to be a few years ago.?
The fire department offers training every Monday night, Chief Beaver said, with 40 to 50 persons showing up.
?Prior to the completion of this station, there was no structural firefighting capacity up here,? Chief Beaver said. Oregon Department of Forestry responds to wildland fires, but it is not equipped or trained to deal with structure fires.
At the speed limit, Chief Beaver drove from the Cascadia Substation to the Fire Hall in Sweet Home in 25 minutes, a long trip for a fire call.
With the new substation, Cascadia volunteers can keep a fire in check until reinforcements from Sweet Home can get the 15 miles to Cascadia, Chief Beaver said. On medical calls, the local volunteers can respond then update paramedics on the situation, road conditions and other information.
Brain damage can occur when someone is in cardiac arrest within four to six minutes, Chief Beaver said. Volunteers in Cascadia can perform CPR to keep them going until medics can get there, making a difference between life and death or at least brain damage.
The new substation cost about $150,000. The land was donated by Cascade Timber Consulting and is located near Triple T Studs. Weyerhaeuser donated $7,500 to the project. Josh Darwood was the contractor.
A recruit fire training class will begin in September. The next one after that is in the spring. For more information about volunteering, persons may call 367-5882.