The time when responding to an emergency is critical
By Ginna Young
When first brought up a year and a half ago, a proposed satellite fire station for Holcombe, was a concept not many had considered. It also begged a lot of questions and much debate, not just in the community, but also within the Cornell Area Fire District Board.
As things progressed, a donation of land was received from Walters Bros. Lumber, sitting near the new bus garage and Magic Salons.
“There’s a little pocket there,” said Fire Board president Lisa Westman.
While there are still some things to be researched, a major agreement occurred unanimously, earlier this fall, where the Fire Board voted to allocate money to clear the donated area, in preparation for a building.
“And that’s the groundwork stuff of it all,” said Westman. “It’s a good step forward.”
The Fire Board is taking it slow, gathering information as they go along, making sure not to add too greatly to the taxpayers’ burden in the townships the fire district covers. To have a satellite station in Holcombe, is not to take away from the fully-equipped Cornell station, but to provide better coverage for the district.
Many within the entire district do utilize recreational activities in Holcombe, so it’s a benefit to all in the coverage area. Firefighters who live/work in Holcombe, can grab the truck at the satellite station and head south when a call comes in, the same as Cornell firefighters can grab a truck at the main station and head north.
Either way, response time is drastically cut down, meaning the difference between life or death, and the salvation or destruction of property.
“It just makes us better,” said Westman. The department has a large membership for such a rural area, including teens who sign on while still in high school. Because it’s considered a volunteer service, the members leave work at a moment’s notice.
“It shows that those business owners care about the community just as much,” said Westman. “And that’s a wonderful thing to see.”
In addition, the department stays on top of training, changing technology and techniques, to make it the safest and most effective it can be for its members.
Although the department is a 501(c)(3), the Fire Board is not sure of cost at this time, to construct a satellite station. Originally, it was discussed that the Cornell Area Fire Department would house an ambulance squad in the Holcombe station, but because the EMS and fire are structured differently financially, that idea was abandoned.
The EMS may rent space for squad storage in the future, but currently, it’s very inexpensive for them to rent the building belonging to the sanitary district.
“Maybe this is better off being a fire department project,” said Westman.
For now, the goal is to get the site cleared before snow flies and the project will move along from there, but Westman said all on the Fire Board agreed it is something that is needed.
It’s not just fires the district responds to in their coverage area, but also car crashes and other things, making the response time critical, no matter where the call is.
“It’s a matter of being there for the person…it’s the getting there faster for the person having the emergency in those areas,” said Westman. “It’s just having the coverage for the district and this is going to be helpful for that.”
