Pollock Pines, CA (February 09, 2023) – A fire station expansion construction project is now underway at Pollock Pines Fire Station 17 in Pollock Pines, CA. This project will provide much needed expansion and improvement of living, working and apparatus storage spaces of the facility. Fire District officials are hopeful that the project will be completed well ahead of the coming fire season.

Because of an industry push for early removal of fire contaminants and carcinogens from firefighters’ bodies, the fire district knew it needed more than one shower for them to use. In early 2020, local fundraising efforts began to simply add an additional bathroom shower, in addition to the facility’s one shower, for the (then four) on-duty firefighters to use for basic hygiene and personal decontamination purposes. Community efforts to raise funding for the project included Hervé Leconte running at an event to gather the needed funds, and efforts by CEDAPP , Pollock Pines Community Center, Pollock Pines Fire Safe Council, Sierra Springs Fire Safe Council and other Pollock Pines community groups and individuals. Roughly $23,000 was raised for the project of adding a shower.

When the fire district looked into the ‘simple’ project, they quickly realized that the scope would be much larger. Major plumbing and electrical challenges were identified that then carried over into an adjacent kitchen.

Once the original plans were approved, the District was well into COVID-19 response and the project was uncertain. A new fifth on-duty firefighter made continuing with the project even more necessary.

Detailed plans were drawn up and approved due to the need to go to bid for the project. In the spring of 2022, Ron Wood of American River Construction Consulting was selected project manager through a bid process. A second bid process awarded the construction contract to Treehenge Construction Inc. Work on the expansion project officially began early January.

The new project will include upgrading and expansion of all bathrooms, kitchen, reconfiguration of the dorms, office spaces, storage and gym. Water, sewage, and electrical utilities are being upgraded to serve the new expanded configuration. The facility will get an front lobby expansion and handicap accessible parking area to better serve local residents. Additional improvements will include re-sloping of the apparatus bay floors and the addition of floor drains with water/oil separator. This facility gets a lot of standing water in the apparatus bays during the winter due to snow melting off the vehicles and water being tracked into the garage area.

Although the project idea started small, there were challenges that resulted in a much more thorough process and will hopefully result in a better facility to support the Pollock Pines firefighters in their work. The station was last remodeled over 30 years ago and has not had any significant upgrades since. Throughout the project duration a fire engine and medic unit will remain staffed in the area to respond to local emergencies.

Station 17 provides fire, rescue and EMS services directly to the communities of Pollock Pines, Camino, Sierra Springs, Strawberry, and Kyburz with service into Eldorado National Forest.

###