After three years of work and plenty of support from residents, Ashley Lake will soon have its own fire hall.

According to Flathead County Fire Service Area Manager Lincoln Chute, the new hall will be part of the Marion Fire District and be located on one acre of land near the south end of the lake.

The land is being donated by Plum Creek Timber Co.

“All the preliminary stuff is done and we’re just waiting to hear back from the corporate headquarters at Plum Creek,” Chute said.

Construction of the new hall will begin immediately after that confirmation is received.

It was the work of the residents themselves that led to the donation from Plum Creek. Chute said members of the Ashley Lake Homeowner’s Association initially approached the company and got the ball rolling.

“Some of the people that live up there have expressed an interest and have talked to Marion about joining, so they would have people out in that area that would respond directly to the fire hall,” Chute said.

Residents will get another benefit along with increased fire protection — lower insurance costs.

“Everybody within a five-mile radius of that would then be eligible to have the ISO rating that the Marion Fire District has,” Chute said.

That rating of a community’s fire suppression systems, given by the Insurance Service Organization, is determined based on such things as distance from the nearest fire hall and average response times. It is then used by insurance companies in determining property insurance premiums.

The rating change will only happen after the area is annexed into the Marion Fire District, which won’t be pursued until after the fire hall has been built.

For the annexation to occur, a map of the proposed annexation and a petition are taken around to residents. Once there is enough support — Chute estimated it takes a minimum of roughly 40 percent of residents — the petition can be taken to county commissioners.

The new hall will be minimalistic in its design, according to Chute, who said the 34-foot by 40-foot building’s main purpose will be to house a fire engine or two. The Marion Fire Department has already obtained one fire truck for the hall.

“It’s something that’s going to last a long time and meet the needs of the fire department, yet there aren’t any extras or frills,” Chute said.

He said the entire point of the new building was to get help to the people who need it faster than was possible before.

“We can literally cut the response time to that south end of Ashley Lake probably by 50 percent,” Chute said. “That’s really my true goal, that we get better, quicker responses to the person that’s on the other end of the 911 call.”

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.