Kurt Dahlin has made a special request to the public that they answer the question that was posed quite some time ago online by the newspaper (see below):
Where to put the new fire hall? Public input wanted
On Feb. 26, the Enterprise Dispatch posted a question on its web site Community Forum: Enterprise Dispatch:
˜A new fire hall is needed in Cokato. Where should it go?” Since that time there has been only one reply posted and it was also a question. But it is exactly the right question. Date of Forum reply March 3: ˜Why do we need a new fire hall?”
On June 20 from 4 to 8 p.m., we would appreciate the opportunity to answer that question. So, as long as you are out at the Cokato Chamber of Commerce pork chop dinner at Cokato Elementary and the ice cream social at Stockholm Lutheran Church, please take a few minutes to stop by our informational open house and speak directly with the fire department and ambulance personnel.
Take this time to ask questions, look around the station and let us introduce you to our ideas to move forward and serve you better. We proudly serve Cokato Township, Stockholm Township, part of French Lake Township and the City of Cokato. Moving forward to serve you better.
Cokato Fire Department and Ambulance Service
I am believing that the fire hall needs more space, but it needs to be as centrally located as possible to the areas that it serves. If it serves city of Cokato, Cokato township, Stockholm township and parts of French Lake Township they should take a map of the areas it serves and find the closest geographical point to the center of all those areas.
Now the only problem with that is that it would probably locate the hall somewhere outside the city limits. This would cause delay for the firemen to get to the station from their homes. (I believe most of the fireman live in Cokato city). So the answer would then be whichever edge of the town that comes the closest to center should be where it is located.
I hate to say it but your new fire house needs to be put in a place that is most accessible to the volunteers, not in the middle of the areas they serve. Not having quick access to fire and emergency services is one of the liabilites that homeowners bring on themselves when they move away from the city. Across the country the volunteer fire service is slowly coming to an end due to the fact that the volunteers continue to have more stuff piled on their plates everytime they turn around. Training requirements state that the volunteers must adhere to the same standards as career firefighters this extra training takes away from family time and many are starting to realize that they are missing out on important things. Now, put a station that is even farther away from where they are driving to now and see what happens?
FFPM82- I am guessing that your name may stand for firefighter paramedic 82. I am not trying to say that anything harder should be imposed on these brave volunteers that serve all the people.
Read my previous post again….
I said initially that the IDEAL location would be in the center of the area that they serve. BUT then I went on to say that since the firefighters live in the town it should be located on the EDGE of the TOWN that is CLOSEST to the CENTER POINT of the area that they serve. It is not realistic to try to expand the fire hall in it’s current location. They are landlocked. That means it needs to move to another location. I am sorry that means that SOME of the firefighters may have to travel further to get to the station. It is just reality that if they need a bigger building it cannot be at the same location.
The insurance guidelines that I was given when we went to look into insurance for our rural property was that you recieved better rates if you were within five miles of the fire station. The response time is faster therefore less likely for a total loss situation. We understand this and took that into consideration when we purchased the property that we did.
I was just doing what they asked and giving MY OPINION on where the new firehall should be.
I am not familiar with the inner workings of a volunteer fire dept.
It seems to me that a volunteer fire fighter is on call but can go about his (her) business as usual until called up! Does this also mean that they must meet at the fire station before proceeding to the fire location? That for the most part seems like a waste of valuable fire fighting time. If only a minority of the volunteers need meet at the fire station to bring the equipment to the fire could this save valuable time? Could the balance of the volunteer firefighters be given phone equipment to alert them as to the location of the fire. If the above is true (and maybe its not) I believe the location of the Cokato Fire Department should be located centrally to the area served 10 -15 minutes to any given location is better than 0 minutes for one and 30 minutes for the other.
Just my thoughts on the subject
They each have pagers and then meet at the station, I believe. The reason for this is because fighting fires requires a truck/hose/equipment/turnout gear, which is all located at the fire hall and meeting individually wouldn’t help matters much.
The volunteer fire department is just as it sounds. All of the members are volunteers. Everyone has a full time job outside of being a firefighter. We all come from different walks of life. The way the department is set up is simply this. All members of the department are “on call” 24/7. We respond to calls at any time. Some members are not available at all times due to other obligations (family, employment, etc.). There are 24 members and odds are there will be a majority of those available at any time.
Each member has a pager which notifies the type of call and where it is. Members respond to the fire station to put on turn out gear and get their equipment and trucks. With out knowing exactly who is availabe for the calls, this is very important. It would not work well if everyone showed up to a scene and did not have a firetruck.
There is also a liability issue.