In 1969 when Fort Ellis was founded as a fire department, it converted a shower bay into a fire department. The site owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Academy has grown as more fire bays have been built since then, but there is no more room for growth.
“We don’t own the station, we don’t own the property, so for the last 10-plus years we've been trying to find another location,” says Fort Ellis Fire Chief Mike Cech.
Now, just down the road they are ready to break ground on a fire station that they can call their own.
“Having a station in this general vicinity is really important to us,” says Cech.
Location is important to this all-volunteer team, Cech says about one-third of their calls are accidents on Interstate 90.
“Our response on I-90 is so critical sometimes,” says Cech.
The station has seen additions over the years, but those additions are starting to become structurally unsound.
“It’s a little concerning to us because you know, it was built by some of the firefighters and farmers who were a part of this district,” says Cech. “As we grow as a department we have to get the equipment to grow with it.”
But the excitement hasn’t come without hiccups. Fort Ellis’ revenue comes from a flat $400 tax on the homes in its district; add the increased cost of construction, and now they have fallen short.
“It be about 3.5 to about 4 million that is now about 6 million, it's pretty amazing how the cost of everything in this county has gone up,” says Cech.
So they embarked on a $1.5 million capital campaign to close the gap needed to finish off the fire station and so far they are about halfway to their goal.
“We’d really like to see if there’s anybody else out there who’d really like to help us out,” says Cech.
Visit this link to learn more about the Fort Ellis capital campaign: https://www.fortellisfire.org/new-fort-ellis-fire-station
