Kirkland’s Fire Station 24 responds to first calls from new location

Located off NE 132nd Street, Kirkland’s new Fire Station 24 responded to its first call on Jan. 5.

Fire Station 24 officially opened on Dec. 16, 2021, with a ribbon cutting ceremony involving Kirkland City Council members. The purpose of this new facility is to reduce response times throughout the Finn Hill and Juanita neighborhoods.

“We’ve had a couple of delays, and that impacted our ability to open the station, and then one of the considerations was always not opening a station over a weekend or a holiday,” said Dave Van Valkenburg, Kirkland Deputy Fire Chief.

Although there have been some delays regarding the contractor completing what Van Valkenburg describes as “punch list items,” he said he appreciates the Kirkland City Council.

“The city set aside funds to build Station 24 over time, and that’s kind of unusual,” he said.

According to Van Valkenburg, new fire stations are generally built through bond and levy measures. However, the city of Kirkland set aside funds to build the new facility with 74% voter approval.

“Part of it was need,” said Van Valkenburg. “We needed a station and especially in that north end of the Finn Hill/Juanita neighborhood, and part of it was part of a larger strategy.”

The larger Kirkland Fire Department strategic plan includes relocating, building and renovating existing fire stations. Fire Station 27 will be the next to undergo alterations. Fire Stations 22, 21 and 26 will also experience changes.

“Fire Station 27 gives us two fire stations east of [I-405], so if the 405 is compromised and we can’t get over or under or around the 405, having two stations to serve that area east of the 405 is dramatically better for citizens,” said Van Valkenburg.

Fire Station 24 took about 24 months to build from start to finish. The location of Fire Station 24 was necessary in reducing response times — the department’s goal is to reach callers within six minutes.

State law requires them to establish performance measures as a fire department, said Van Valkenburg.

“It accounts for time taken for someone to call 911, time it takes dispatch to process and dispatch, time it takes firefighters to react, or turnaround, and then drive time,” he said. “That whole process is what we call our response time.”

Kirkland Fire Department’s 90th percentile goal is to be at EMS calls within five minutes, and at fire calls within five minutes and 30 seconds. Van Valkenburg said the only measure the department has control over is drive time.

“Drive time with traffic and congestion is the biggest impact to our overall response time,” said Van Valkenburg. “Stations are located on the idea that we will be able to drive within four minutes.”

The four-minute goal is used for planning purposes when it comes to placement location for new stations.

“The other part of fire department coverage is we want to be dispersed a little bit, but we also need concentration because when we have a fire and lots of units have to converge on that fire, then you don’t want to be too far apart,” said Van Valkenburg.

Fire Station 24’s new location will be taking on some calls from Fire Station 27. In 2020, Fire Station 27 responded to 3,743 calls. The Deputy Chief estimates that Fire Station 24 will take on 1,500 calls per year.

The net result of Fire Station 24 is two dedicated aid cars, one dedicated engine, health and safety, size upgrades, and increased staffing. Wellness initiatives that were included in the new facility consist of a decontamination room with exterior access, an extractor to suck contaminants out of gear, modelling that is designed to be operational after major disasters such as earthquakes, and a sealed locker room.

“So many firefighters are passing away from cancer,” said Van Valkenburg. “The things that we do now to help them get to retirement and beyond is very important. Sadly, cancer, because of the carcinogens, because of the products we’re exposed to…we just have a realm of exposures that give us a significantly higher cancer rate than the general population.”

Van Valkenburg brought up how fire departments are becoming more proactive about protecting their firefighters. However, risks still exist and they are important to minimize whenever possible.

The Firefighter Cancer Support Network, a nonprofit that assists firefighters and families who develop cancer, estimates that from 2002 to 2019, 66% of career firefighter deaths were caused by cancer.

“The more we wear our protective clothing and the more we decontaminate our gear, those cancer rates will come down,” said Van Valkenburg.