West Valley to build new fire station

The Daily Inter Lake

The West Valley Fire Department expects to have a third station built by January 2010.

The Flathead County Board of Adjustment granted a conditional-use permit for the project Tuesday.

The department plans to build an almost 6,000-square-foot station at the corner of Farm-to-Market Road and Pine Cone Lane to deal with the area's increasing growth, Fire Chief Rod Dresbach said.

The third station would be about six miles north of the department's current Farm-to-Market station. West Valley also has a station on Whitefish Stage Road.

The new station would ensure that the entire fire district would be within five miles of a fire facility, Dresbach said. Right now, part of the district's north side is beyond five miles from a station.

That could significantly lower the fire insurance premiums for buildings and homes currently outside the five-mile distance.

The estimated cost is about $1 million. The fire district will borrow the money from a state fund and repay it through a property tax increase passed two years ago.

The new station will not increase the district's taxes, Dresbach said.

The department's 29 firefighters have eight fire trucks plus another truck on order.