The Director of Buchanan County EMS, Patrick Wallace, said, first responders had a temporary facility a little further South but this space is more suited to their needs.  

"When the county purchased this building, we started having conversations about whether we could use some of the space," Wallace said. 

The County opened a 10,000 square-foot EMS headquarters on Frederick Boulevard last year. The second station is on 10th Street. Wallace said because his team has to provide emergency services to the entire county, it was important to set up a third base.

Les Kenworthy, the Twin Falls Fire Chief. said the fire department needs to accommodate newer responsibilities like canyon rescues, hazmat situations and expanded EMT calls.  

Part of the wish list for the fire department are facilities to help clean and deal with equipment used in Hazmat situations. Overall Kenworthy said they needed to address growing health concerns for firefighters.

There are more serious structural concerns inside the building. The foam insulation in the garage is not enough to hold moisture from the rusting roof out; insect infestations plague the building and sleeping quarters are in an area of the building with the roof held up by beams that are buckling.  

A report provided to the Belgrade City Council says the last remodel in 2013 “showed loss of roof assembly integrity.”

The pumper comes equipped with a Cummins ISL 450-horsepower engine, Allison 3000EVS transmission and an aluminum cab tested to 66,000 pounds. On the pump and plumbing side, the truck features a 1,000-gallon UPF poly water tank, a Hale QMAX 1,500-gallon-per-minute midship pump and an FRC Pump Boss pressure governor.  

The new pumper – known as Engine Four – will replace a current truck that will now be used as a reserve truck. The addition of Engine Four brings the total number of trucks in the fire department’s fleet to 12.