Fire department secures $295,000 to acquire property for future ‘public safety campus’
M.K. French
Farmer Staff Writer
The McKenzie County Rural Fire Department won a critical first victory in its quest for a more modern home on Monday, securing board approval for a $295,000 property acquisition that officials say is the first step in a multi-year plan to solve a dangerous logistical bottleneck.
“Right now we have trucks stacked three deep in our city building,” Steve Reeves, representing the Watford City Fire Department and McKenzie County Rural Fire District, told the Board of Commissioners. “It can be a real challenge when time is of the essence to move two other pieces of equipment to get out.” The department’s current facility on Third Street Northeast has served the community for 50 years, but Reeves noted that while the “scope and nature of fire services have increased,” the building’s footprint has remained frozen in time.
The approved $295,000 will be used to purchase a house on the northern end of the block, situated at the corner of Third Street NE and Third Avenue NE. This purchase, facilitated through a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA), allows the department to begin assembling a “public safety campus” that would eventually house the fire department, ambulance services, and city equipment in one centralized block. Reeves presented a vision for a two-story, eight-bay station that would allow for future growth and potential living quarters for a permanent fire cadre. “We don’t want to build a Taj Mahal,” Reeves emphasized, noting the department’s desire to remain “dollar conscious” and maintain good public optics.
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