The new station, which will have two large truck bays, will significantly reduce response time for firefighters on the fast-developing western edge of the city. The emergency response radius of the new fire station will be 1.5 miles in all directions.

Previously, Harlingen fire department officials have said the new station could cut response times to homes and businesses in the area by up to four or five minutes.

Better fire coverage in the area has been a concern for the city, which is trying to get out in front of a wave of commercial and residential development in the area.

Texas Regional Bank also plans a new headquarters building nearby, and real estate agents and city planners have said they expect a dramatic and rapid expansion of commercial development from Harlingen to La Feria along the interstate.

The Washington City Council approved the sale to Hurricane Valley Fire District of a 1.47-acre piece of land located approximately at 66 N. Coral Canyon Blvd. (next to the Texaco gas station).

An advantage of the Coral Canyon Boulevard site will be quicker access to the Coral Canyon area by state Route 9, as well as the industrial park where businesses like Litehouse Foods and Dats Trucking are located.

The new fire station is estimated to cost around $1.5 million and will be financed by a 30-year, $1 million loan from the from the state’s Permanent Community Impact Board to the Hurricane Valley Fire District. The CIB, as it is sometimes called, is also supplying a $500,000 grant on top of the loan.

The $1 million not covered by the grant will be split between Washington City and the fire district.

The first units on scene encountered a 4,000 square foot storage building fully involved with fire. The building was currently utilized to secure/store a large amount of fire department training equipment. It took 25 firefighters from Cal Fire/County Fire, the California Mens Colony Fire Department and San Luis Obispo City Fire Department approximately 1 hour to extinguish the fire. No injuries were reported.

The building and its contents, one vehicle and a large amount of fire department training equipment, were destroyed in the fire. The estimated dollar loss is $500,000 and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

For the next two weeks, Cook and Morgan will provide off-road ambulance service for injured firefighters, likely for the first time ever at an Idaho wildfire. The fire’s medical unit leader, Curtis Baker, ordered the ambulance as soon as he heard about it.

After a feverish 48 hours of paperwork, Cook and Morgan, both wildland-qualified, arrived at Idaho City and began drawing attention as soon as they unloaded their ambulance.

"It kind of stops people in their tracks," said Cook. Baker joked that he was "extremely jealous," as soon as he saw it. At morning briefing on Tuesday, he suggested firefighters take a look at it. "That thing is pretty rad," he told the assembled group.

The mini-ambulance has a gurney, monitors, siren and flashing lights, just like a full-size one. But by shrinking it and adding a Polaris chassis, the mini-ambulance can travel on smaller, rougher trails to extract injured firefighters from places that a normal ambulance could never reach.

The off-road ambulance will then deliver patients to a road ambulance or to a helispot for evacuation to hospital, saving patients from a rough, slow evacuation and saving their crewmates from performing a difficult rescue by hand.

Previously the Idaho Falls Fire Department has used the off-road ambulance for back-country rescues and also at public events where a full-size ambulance might have trouble getting through crowds.

Before the fire department acquired the off-road ambulance, the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Department was in charge of Search & Rescue in the Idaho Falls area and regularly transported back-country patients in a cart pulled by a four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle.

Riding on a gurney in an air-conditioned mini-ambulance makes for a much smoother ride. Although its squarish high shape might make it look tippy, Cook and Morgan both say that looks are deceiving, and the ride is surprisingly stable.