Two rural fire stations going up in Troy area

When it comes to an emergency call, getting on scene as quickly as possible obviously holds great importance.

The Troy Volunteer Fire Department is currently in the process of taking a significant step forward when it comes to response times by building two satellite stations. Fire chief Larry Chapel said one station is going up on Highway 56 in the Milnor Lake-Savage Lake area. The other will be constructed in Kootenai Vista.

“Being able to knock 10 minutes or so off a response time could be very crucial as the area keeps growing more and more with new homes,” Chapel said. “It’s getting pretty good-sized (area to cover) out there.”

The station going up on Highway 56 could be done this fall.

“They’re talking like they can still have it up this fall,” Chapel said. “It’s seems like everybody’s working on a limited budget this year and it takes a while to pull everything together to make it work. But that seems to be coming along pretty good.”

Chapel said it’s possible that both stations will be finished before winter.

“Hopefully it will be done by spring this coming year but they’re actually hoping they can get enough headway to get them both done (this fall),” Chapel said.

The fire department includes two districts – Troy and Troy Rural. The rural district is in charge of the satellite station construction projects.

Chapel, who has lived in Troy 53 years this month, said the area has seen a lot of growth.

“There are new homes coming up all over the place,” he said. “One day there’s a field and the next day, there’s a home on it.”

The fire department includes two districts – Troy and Troy Rural. The rural district is in charge of the satellite station construction projects.

Chapel, who has lived in Troy 53 years this month, said the area has seen a lot of growth.

“There are new homes coming up all over the place,” he said. “One day there’s a field and the next day, there’s a home on it.”

The department stays busy with response calls – which includes its extrication capabilities. No significant fires have blazed up but with more people, that could change.

“Every year, it’s been so dog-gone dry in the summertime, it gets pretty scary,” Chapel said. “Actually, I think we’ve been very, very lucky not to have anything serious.”

The satellite stations will each start out with a Class A pumper truck. Eventually, Chapel said the hope is to also have a tender at each rural site.

“We’re trying to get people involved and get people in those areas that will help take care of the stations and help man the trucks,” said Chapel, who added that there has been interest. “It’s looking pretty good but we always keep the door open to new recruits.”

During an open house on Saturday, the fire department had its trucks out and cooked up hot dogs for folks who wanted to pay them a visit. Among the recent acquisitions is a 4,000-gallon tender.