QUINCY — A facilities committee will be evaluating Grant County Fire District 3 stations to determine priorities for upgrades following the final payment on the bond that built the main fire station in Quincy. Fire district officials announced last week the bond was paid off at the end of 2024. 

District officials also repaid a Strategic Infrastructure Loan taken out to build a station at Trinidad near Crescent Bar. It was built in 2019; resident quarters were added last year, which allows the district to improve response times to Crescent Bar and the surrounding area. 

“We just finished that and paid the last payment,” said GCFD 3 commissioner Randy Zolman. “And we did that out of reserves.” 

Zolman said the key to good financial health – like being able to use district money to finish a project – is keeping a close eye on the cash. 

“Money management,” he said. “We budget pretty tight to get things moving forward.” 

Voters approved the $3.5 million bond in 2004. Fire District 3 Chief David Durfee said it may not sound like that much money now, but Quincy and GCFD 3 were a lot different – and a lot smaller – 20 years ago. 

“It was a big ask at the time from the community,” Durfee said.  

The former GCFD 3 main station was on C Street Southwest, with an office on one side of the street and parking for fire trucks on the other. Part of that space is now the home of the Quincy Police Department, Durfee said, and the old GCFD 3 office is used by the QPD for storage. 

The former site was too small to house all fire equipment indoors, Durfee said, and fire district commissioners at the time started thinking about alternatives. They purchased the land for the current station, then asked voters for enough money to build something new.  

Commissioners and GCFD 3 staff planned ahead when working on a design, Durfee said. 

“We do have a whole upstairs that’s ready for expansion,” he said, although currently there are no plans to develop a second floor.  

The existing space accommodates GCFD 3 operations.  

“This (building) is still in good shape. The structure is very sound,” he said. 

The district also has completed upgrades to the station at George, which is typically the first responder to an accident on Interstate 90. There are seven stations in GCFD 3, covering different sections of the far-flung district, and some of them are in need of upgrades, Durfee said. That’s the next focus for the facilities committee.  

The district has fire stations near Winchester, at Adams Road and Frenchman Hills Road Southwest, at the intersection of Road 7 Northwest and Road G Northwest and Sunland Estates. Siting a fire station is a mix of matching the location to the need. 

“Fire stations are placed strategically,” Durfee said. The goal is to provide the quickest response times to the greatest number of residents, he said.  

Fire response is crucial to insurance companies evaluating fire rates, Durfee said – and if fire insurance will be available at all. 

“When you have a fire station around your area, that allows the public living around that station to be covered,” Durfee said.  

There are a couple of existing stations that are in need of upgrades, Zolman said, including Winchester east of Quincy and Sunland Estates southwest of Quincy. Both are old and the Winchester facility is too small to hold modern equipment, he said.  

The Winchester station will be moved to a new location.  

“We have been able to secure one and a half acres for that,” Zolman said. 

District officials also are working on a new station at the top of the cliffs near the Gorge Amphitheater, which would help with response times to the venue, Zolman said.  

“If we can get little bits of funding from the state, we’re going to put in infrastructure for those buildings,” Zolman said.  

District officials plan to build sewer and water systems if possible, which would make construction cheaper when the time comes to build. The district has other expenses. 

“We have quite a bit of equipment we have to buy also,” Zolman said.  

District officials are working on the purchase of a new rescue truck; Zolman estimated it will cost more than $400,000.  

“We’re only building when we have the money,” he said. 

    The voter-approved construction bond that built the Grant County Fire District 3 main station in Quincy was paid off in December, after 20 years.