Blog Note: This article references
a 2004 grand jury report finding the need for a new fire station. Grand jury reports
can have influence long into the future.
Firefighters are moving in to
the new Fountaingrove fire station Tuesday, nearly four months after the $4
million building was found not to comply with state and federal laws meant to
ensure access for people with disabilities.
The new Station 5 at the
intersection of Fountain Grove Parkway and Newgate Court has been staffed
during the daytime since last Friday, when the building received a temporary
occupancy permit from the city’s chief building official.
Firefighters have been making
the transition to working out of the new station ever since, and after
furniture, appliances and other gear is moved in Tuesday, they will spend their
first night there tonight.
“It’s very, very exciting to
get into the building and start responding to calls,” Fire Chief Tony Gossner
said.
The station’s new location atop
Fountaingrove is about a mile north of the existing Station 5 on Parker Hill
Road. The new spot will significantly improve the ability of water-laden fire
engines to respond quickly to emergencies in the area, Gossner said.
The affluent hillside neighborhood
is located in a high fire danger area known as a wildland-urban interface, yet
the response times to emergencies there have long been the slowest in the city.
A department study in 2002 confirmed as much and a 2004 Sonoma County grand
jury report concluded the city badly needed to build the new station.
More than a decade later, after
the station was finally constructed, city officials in April realized numerous
features failed to provide required access for the disabled, even though
able-bodied firefighters are the only ones expected to regularly use the
building.
The height of kitchen counters,
the width of doors, the location of bathroom grab handles and even the volume
control knobs on the station’s radio system were all found to not comply with
the latest state building codes.
The changes are expected to
take about three months to complete. The cost of the work has yet to be
identified. City officials last week expressed hope it would be less than the
$60,000 remaining in the contingency fund for the project. This week, however,
Jason Nutt, director of transportation and public works, said conversations
with the contractor, GCCI, Inc., made that seem less likely.
“It’s
looking like the cost is going to be pushing our limit,” Nutt said.
August 24, 2015
Santa
Rosa Press Democrat
By Kevin
McCallum
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