Cloverdale Fire District seeking bond measure

At the Cloverdale fire station, there are fire trucks — but they’re 33 years old.

There’s a garage, but the trucks barely fit — some have just a half-inch of wiggle room.

“We are running in vehicles that might start, they might not,” said Damon Frutos, president of the Cloverdale Fire Volunteers Association.

“And when it’s someone’s emergency, we need to know that that vehicle is going to be ready to go, and it’s going to get us where we need to go without fail,” Frutos

Cloverdale serves 3,500 residents and protects an area of about 50 square miles — a triangle between Bend, Sisters and Redmond. It responds to more than 200 calls a year.

But with failing equipment, safety becomes a major concern.

“We’re in vehicles that don’t have proper safety standards, such as three-point seat belts, air bags or rollover protection,” Frutos said.

This fall, the fire district is asking voters to approve a $2.475 million bond. For a house assessed at $200,000, it would cost about $7.66 a month.

The money would go toward new fire engines, a renovation of the station and replacing emergency response equipment.

“We are going to turn our training quarters into sleeping quarters, so that hopefully we can get a couple firefighters that are willing to stay at the fire station and be available 24 hours a day, basically,” said Lt. Clinton Weaver.

With those changes – the fire district says it can get out to calls faster – to save lives.

“In this business, minutes mean lives, seconds mean lives. We have to get places fast, and we have to take action quickly,” Weaver said.

Frutos added, “It’s not just a Band-Aid fix, like we’ve been doing for the last 30-40 years. It’s actually going to set us up for success going into the future.”

For more information on the bond measure, or to sign up to become a volunteer, visit http://cloverdalefire.com/index.html.