by Judy Killen-originally published in the 1/6/17 print edition of YCN.
WORDEN — The new fire station planned for Huntley may also house ambulances for the proposed countywide ambulance service.
Lance Taylor, chief of the Worden Volunteer Fire Department and president of the Yellowstone County Rural Fire Council, said Monday night that final plans have not been drawn up for the Huntley fire hall.
And the ambulance service proposal is also still in the works. Brad Shoemaker, director of the county’s emergency services department, said Wednesday that he’s preparing a resolution to create the countywide ambulance service to present to Yellowstone County Commissioners, probably in the third or fourth week of January.
The Worden department’s building committee is scheduled to meet this month to discuss the floor plan and consider an architect, Taylor said.
But the building likely will include at least one bay for an ambulance, and if the countywide service becomes a reality, then the fire hall would also need to include housing space for ambulance crew members, Taylor said.
The Yellowstone County Commissioners would oversee the countywide service, Taylor said.
Shoemaker said he and Taylor have discussed options for housing the ambulance service — but first, commissioners have to approve the resolution, followed by a 30-day comment period and, eventually, a vote by the people living in the proposed ambulance district.
At this point, Shoemaker said, the fire hall and the ambulance service are two projects “parallel to each other, which could lean on each other in the future.”
Housing the countywide ambulance service at the fire hall is “certainly a possibility,” Shoemaker said, but it’s too early to speculate.
The Huntley fire hall is a pretty good location, Taylor said. Worden would also be a good READ full article by subscribing to the Electronic Version of YCN here
