To make way for a new, full-service fire station, Northern Lakes Fire District's Garwood station, used for equipment storage, is being emptied and prepared for removal.

Fire Chief Pat Riley told fire district commissioners Thursday that once Station 3 in Garwood is removed, the district will have more equipment than it has storage space for.

“Notwithstanding Station 3, I don't believe we have room to breathe in any of the buildings that we own,” Riley said.

Station 3 is on schedule to be dismantled for sale.

“Right now we’re on a good timeline, but we can’t stretch this out too far,” Riley said.

The equipment has been moved into a storage pod at Fire Station 1, which is already filling up at an alarming rate, the chief said.

Riley can already see the district will need more pods, or other solutions, to store everything that was inside Station 3, along with other miscellaneous equipment and material from stations throughout the district, he told commissioners.

Northern Lakes Fire Commissioner Jim Washko suggested the district purchase shipping containers to meet growing storage needs, but an additional pod could also be an option as the space runs out.

Maneuvering pods and containers already poses a challenge at Station 1, but containers could offer a temporary solution to lack of space.

Other Rathdrum stations are not only full of equipment, but are also preparing for the addition of 13 new recruits, Riley said. The trainees will enter academy training Monday, where they’ll receive their gear, tools and equipment, which will all have to fit somewhere as well.

The new Garwood Station should provide relief and is already under construction remotely. It will likely be shipped for installation at the station site in the fall. Until then, the district will continue juggling equipment storage.

The new station will provide nearly 7,000 square feet of space, including two bays for fire apparatus and gear. It will also house staff in bunks on site and have a gear storage room that should help to relieve some burden from surrounding stations.

The district is making improvements to meet the service demands that come with population growth, including expansion and equipment purchases, but low levies have made that a challenge.

“The construction boom still continues,” said district Fire Marshal Tyler Drechsel. “We approved the Sky Meadow Villas apartment complex phase 1, which is 132 residential units, plus a community center for a total of 130,000 square feet of new residential living space. Things are moving.”

The new station and recruits were funded by a grant awarded to the district in September 2022 and by community donations. The grant will expire at the end of three years, leaving a budget gap where the new salaries have been added.

The fire district also added a new ambulance to its fleet Wednesday, retiring an old model that’s been sent to Salt Lake City to be decommissioned and re-outfitted. The new ambulance has better safety equipment and reliability, and will be followed by other vehicle and equipment purchases expected to arrive in May.

The new Garwood station will significantly help to disperse equipment and crews, but only after it is installed.

The old storage station will be polished and cleaned, dismantled and flat stacked and listed for sale to the highest bidder to make room for a new station.

Legally the old station has a value of about $32,000 so the district can’t demolish the building without seeking the value through a public sale.

The district has already had interest from two potential buyers, one a private party and one a business, Riley said, so the district should recoup the full value of the building.