Just call it The Real World: Canby Fire Addition. A new, modular home has been installed at the site of the district’s planned northside station on North Redwood Street, next to the city maintenance shops and waste water treatment plant.
The house will serve as a base of operations while remodeling work is underway at the district’s main station on South Pine. The remodel is being funded by the $4.9 million bond measure district voters passed last November.
Canby Fire Chief Jim Davis gave the update before the Canby City Council at their last meeting.
A permanent northside station is also in the works. Chief Davis said the fire district will be working on geo-engineering and site development simultaneous with the main station remodel. The district hopes to begin construction on the northside project in early summer of 2020.
The northside station was a critical part of the bond package voters approved. It’s targeted at one of the biggest challenges to providing timely medical, fire and other emergency services in Canby: the railroad that divides our city neatly in two.
Highway 99E is also a challenge, but sirens and flashing lights can clear the way of passing motorists. That’s not an option if a train is barreling down the tracks.
The new northside station will help address this by giving the district a base of operation on either side of the tracks. CFD Northside will be used primarily for medical responses (which account for roughly 70 percent of the district’s calls anyway) but could be expanded to a full fire station if future growth necessitates it.
Chief Davis says the district is also looking at new ways to improve efficiency and strengthen partnerships with other community fire agencies. The district already handles administrative duties through an inter-governmental agreement with neighboring Aurora Fire District and is planning to enter into a similar IGA with Woodburn.
Canby Fire has also hired consultants to help them find other ways to improve efficiency and eliminate redundancies.
Chief Davis said he expects the results of that study to be presented to a joint meeting of the various fire district leadership in December or January.