Mosier Fire District shifts station plan

MOSIER — The Mosier Fire District (MFD) has shifted direction in its efforts to build a new fire station, striking out on its own after funding issues stalled a long running proposed joint-use facility (JUF), which the district would share with the City of Mosier.

For the past several months, the MFD has been moving toward building its own station by the site of Station 12 on State Road. Fire officials had previously been collaborating with the City of Mosier on the joint project, which would house both city hall and a fire station. But cost-cutting measures would have limited the fire department’s future operational capabilities, according to Mosier Fire’s Captain Connor McKibben.

McKibben drafted the new station proposal, which will need to be signed by Chief Tom Oswald before being presented to Wasco County commissioners.

The fire department currently operates out of three stations: Station 11, located downtown; Station 12 in the lower rural area; and Station 13 in the upper rural area. But district leadership says none of these existing facilities meet the logistical needs of its staff and volunteers.

The stations lack restrooms and showers, decontamination space, heated storage, hose-washing facilities and a training room. In addition, McKibben says, Station 12’s “older-style” apparatus bays were built to store equipment that is now outdated, and are too small to fit standard modern fire vehicles, restricting them to parking outside the building.

The MFD has also raised concern about operating between Stations 11 and 12, as they are separated by less than a mile. Equipment and apparatus are currently split between the two stations, creating confusion over logistics such as where to meet during emergencies and where to pick up gear. The district also notes it is paying two sets of overhead costs to maintain both stations.

“It’s been a two-station problem needing a one-station solution for decades,” McKibben said in a statement.

During the MFD’s most recent board meeting Aug. 12, Treasurer Rob Miller presented the draft proposal to build a new station on the Wasco County Road Department lot. “It requests, and I quote, from the Mosier Fire District that the Wasco County Commission grant the district’s use of the County Road Department lot located at the corner of State Road and Carroll Road in Mosier to build a new fire station,” Miller said.

The proposed station would include a training room, a kitchen and a decontamination room, plus offices and five engine bays including larger ones designed to accommodate modern apparatus. The cost is projected to be between $2-3.5 million. The MFD is considering several funding options, including a bond, a capital expense levy, or a development loan through Business Oregon. The board is also preparing to gauge community support for a possible bond measure.

The project plans to combine Station 11 and 12 into one station. Station 13 will remain in-service and unchanged, the current Station 12 building will be used for storage, and the current Station 11 building will be returned to the city. The MFD hopes to complete the planning process and begin construction within the next two years.

“Our job is to protect this community not just during emergencies, but through responsible stewardship of their tax dollars, and we intend to take that seriously as this moves forward,” McKibben said. “Ultimately, our goal is to protect the people of our fire district now and for generations to come while remaining fiscally responsible.”

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For more on Mosier Fire District’s new station plans, check out the full notes of the agency’s Aug. 12 board meeting, by Gorge Documenter and University of Oregon Snowden intern with Columbia Gorge News, Amelia Fiore, and the full notes of the district‘s July 8, 2026 board meeting by Gorge Documenter Marit Knapp at columbia-gorge.documenters.org. For background on Mosier’s plans for a “joint use facility” incorporating city hall, the fire department and a community center into one space, also see full notes from the July 15, 2025, Mosier public meeting by Gorge Documenter Lynda Ontiveros.