Fort Hall opens new 25,000 square foot Fire Station
FORT HALL, Idaho (KIFI) – The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes held a grand opening for the new Fort Hall Fire Station at 70 Widowville Road in Fort Hall after approximately two years of construction. The new facility will serve as the headquarters for Fort Hall Fire, with over 25,000 square feet of expanded offices, training areas and fire truck bays.
The new station replaces the previous station as the Fort Hall Fire Department determined it no longer met the operational needs of the fire personnel. It is built directly across from the old station, maintaining the convenient location.
"The old facility didn't have room for all of our apparatus, all of our equipment, so with having everything under one roof now, we can keep our state of readiness a lot more efficient," said Eric King, Fire Chief with the Fort Hall Fire Department. "It's a lot safer for our firefighters to not have to run across parking lots to get on the trucks and go."
The project cost around $13 million in total, with the ground breaking almost two years ago in September 2024. It was funded through a combination of tribal and federal support, with $7 million coming from the efforts of Congressman Mike Simpson. The new facility serves 18 line personnel and four administrative staff.
"It's a morale boost for the guys, for sure," King said. "And it's for the public. We're excited to do a lot of things with the public so we have those accomodations to do community events in this building."
Rather than a traditional ribbon-cutting, the Tribes held a celebration that featured the Fire Hose Disconnect Ceremony, which organizers say symbolizes the transition from the former station to the new one. They also did a Push-In Truck Ceremony, a long-standing tradition of placing a fire engine into its new home. Following the ceremony, guests were able to tour the new facility and meet members of Fort Hall Fire.
To the firefighters, this is their new home, and the crew couldn't be more excited for the modern facility.
"The conditions that these guys work in day in and day out, they need something that they feel comfortable coming back to," King said. "They've got to decompress from the stresses of the job and hopefully that's what will happen here and be a little more comfortable."
King also said the previous facility left their fire trucks outside through the seasons, increasing maintenance costs every year. The new headquarters will provide all the Fort Hall Fire services in one place, including six apparatus bays, meeting places, and expanded workspaces and training areas. Organizers say the state-of-the-art, modern station will support daily operations while reducing long-term costs.
