Volunteer Fire Department Needs Community’s Help to Complete New Station

Press release from the Briceland Volunteer Fire Department:

Briceland’s long-awaited and much-needed Tim Olsen Memorial Fire Station is nearing completion! Years of planning and fundraising, by countless individuals is finally coming to fruition! There are a few last, yet significant costs of construction, such as paving the apron, installing some ADA features, finishing the gates, getting the phone lines connected. As well to get the station equipped, we will need a phone system, radio system, furniture for the new meeting and training room, gear lockers, and gear extractor.

The fire department has been putting funds into savings for 10+ years for this project, and including a generous grant from County Measure Z funding, a few local grants, and all your donations and fundraising thus far, we have spent all of it. To allow construction to be completed, the Fire Department has taken in a few zero-interest loans from community members.

We are so close and really just need to rally a final call for help to get the new station completed, equipped, and the last bills paid.

Building a Briceland Fire Station was first envisioned in the 1970’s when the lot, in downtown Briceland, was purchased by Beginnings with the plan that it would house a fire station. Every fire chief since then, has spent time planning and wishing for a station that would better support and enable crews to respond when needed. And when Briceland VFD incorporated as a non-profit in 2008, fundraising to build the station began in earnest.

In 2020 building plans were approved and ground was broken. The building started going up in February 2021; the roof was placed by June; and the garage bay doors, enclosing the space, were placed by the end of the year. 2022 started with finishing work on the interior and laying pavement aprons to allow vehicle access. We were hoping to be moved in by fire season, and literally, the day we had the crew assembled to clean and move items into the new station, we got our first major fire call of the season.

Community fundraising events, generous individual donations, income generated by the crew taking on CalFire assignments and station coverage, a few local grants, and a significant County Measure Z allotment have made this giant project possible. We have utilized a lot of donated labor and discounted materials to stretch the funds that we have, and we have a lot of thank yous to give out!

It seems like we have been in a constant state of fundraising to keep the construction crews working, but we are now in the final push to finish and equip the new space and make it our fire station. We have several fundraising campaigns underway, including engraved Brick sales, item sponsorships, and T-shirt and hoodie sales that can all be reached by links on our webpage (www.bricelandfire.org). We hope to hold our annual fundraiser/BBQ in September (last year’s was canceled due to Covid), have a Pints-for-Nonprofits scheduled August 4th and a few more bake-sales at the Briceland Farmers’ Market. Please support a final call for donations to help get the station fully operational. Your help right now will have a lasting impact and be so very appreciated.

Donations can be mailed to PO Box 1249, Redway, CA 95560 or made directly to our account at Vocality Community Credit Union #13529. All donations are tax deductible.

This is a multi-generational project; the effort we make today will result in a Briceland fire station that is critical infrastructure for this community and all of Southern Humboldt.

Thank you all for your support and your efforts over the years.