A combined fire and police station at the current River City Hall site in Durango has been determined to not be feasible as a joint project, but the fire district is still investigating the site for a new fire station while the city is considering the former 9R administration property as a new location for a potential City Hall complex, the city said in a press release.

“The fire chief and I realized the River City Hall site lot size is inadequate to cost-effectively build a fire station and police station without encroaching on other uses in the area and would not improve access to the Animas River,” said City Manager José Madrigal. “This does not mean that development of this site cannot happen. The fire district still believes the site is the best option for a new fire station.”

While the fire district is looking at ways to rebuild the outdated facility, the city is looking at how to address its own facility needs posed by the Police Department, Community Development Department, and City Hall; structures which are outdated and overcrowded. One option, first identified in 1994 under a Master Facility Program, is to use the former 9R administration property as a City Hall complex. This could consolidate City Hall, the Police Department, Community Development, other city offices, and community amenities in a municipal complex at the former 9R property.

“It is just an option to determine if the City Council would like to explore at this point,” Madrigal said. “Nothing has been decided.”

City councilors and the fire district are scheduled to receive an update on the project at a joint meeting Jan. 19 at City Hall.

Six main reasons are behind the decision to not move forward on a joint facility at River City Hall:

1. Project price based on work completed (not actual estimates) was significantly over expectations.
2. Lot size was not adequate for construction.
3. Limited parking and prohibitive cost for an underground parking garage.
4. Encroachment onto Iris Park.
5. Negative impact on Camino Underpass Project.
6. Negative impact on surrounding businesses.

The fire district shares the River City Hall site with the city’s Community Development Department. The fire district views the site as the best available for a new fire station, but in order to move forward, the district needs to divest itself of the former 9R property which includes the old administration building and Big Picture High School. The fire district purchased the property from 9R in December 2021.

Numerous options are under consideration pending direction from City Council, including a possible swap of River City Hall for the former 9R property.

The city and the fire district entered a Memorandum of Understanding in August 2022. The agreement set 12 months for the two sides to investigate the feasibility of building a joint-use facility at River City Hall, which is owned by the city. City and fire district staff have been meeting since September 2022 in bi-weekly discussions.

The crew at Delta Fire and Emergency Services Fire Hall No. 3 followed an old tradition Thursday by pushing in by hand one of the department’s newest pieces of equipment, delta-optimist.com reported.

The North Delta crew were all smiles having received one of two new fire engines, at a cost of $1 million, purchased by the city, the report said. It has some of the latest features and green technology including an eco-idle that switches the vehicle to lithium power when parked and running for extended periods, according to the report.

The fire truck being replaced will go into the Delta Fire and Emergency Services reserve fleet of three, according to the report

By Alan M. Petrillo

The makers of structural personal protective equipment (PPE) continue to improve and evolve their turnout gear lines with the aim of providing the best protection for firefighters in gear that is ergonomic, lighter in weight without sacrificing safety, and as protective from carcinogens as possible.

Jeff Fackler, North American business development director of protective apparel for DuPont, says that with fires burning hotter and faster these days, five elements are driving the design of turnout gear to help reduce heat stress on firefighters. The first of these is ergonomic design and the use of stretch in fabrics, while the second is the incorporation of aramid filaments like DuPont™ Kevlar® in outer shells to provide a high level of strength, options to lower weight while keeping excellent flame protection, and DuPont™ Nomex® filament in thermal liner facecloths for improved durability and lubricity.

The third dimension of protection in outer shells is blending it with PBI, PBO, or other fibers with extremely high decomposition temperatures, which Fackler calls “thermally stable fabrics that maintain their integrity after exposure to flame environments and therefore have very good performance in extreme conditions such as our Nomex® Xtreme outer shells.”

The fourth element is improving the durability and strength of outer shell fabrics to sustain them through more frequent washings; DuPont Nomex included in outer shells has proven to provide superior wash durability and esthetics. The fifth dimension is using nonfluorinated finishes on the outer shells. He notes that DuPont Kevlar and DuPont Nomex can be incorporated into all those dimensions, as both ingredients are inherently flame resistant, with DuPont Kevlar optimized for strength and DuPont Nomex for flame-resistant textile applications like more comfort, mobility, and ergonomics.

Jian Xiang, DuPont’s global technology leader for protective apparel, notes that using DuPont Nomex Nano or Nomex NanoFlex in hoods and interfaces gives particulate and viral protective properties and still allows air and moisture to move in and out of the barrier.

Fackler points out that the thermal liner is where turnout gear gets at least 50% or more of the gear’s thermal protection. “The thermal liner facecloth needs to be flame resistant and durable and have high lubricity—that is, low friction so it slides over the body,” he says. “Spunlace Kevlar and Nomex are being used in a thermal liner. These typically have a facecloth with two layers of insulation: one of which is Spunlace and the second being Nomex Nano, which gives an [equivalent to] 30-point improvement in breathability (THL) and [equivalent to] 40% less bulk than a typical liner insulation with only Spunlace layers.”

• Meeting the Need for Fit-To-Purpose Turnout Gear to Serve Multiple Purposes
• Turnout Gear Manufacturers Make PPE Tailored for Women
• The Protection Behind Structural Firefighting Turnout Gear
• What’s Next for Structural Turnout Gear?