Two more fire stations of the Spokane Valley Fire Department will boast new monikers in the near future: Station 4 will become the Otis Orchards Fire Station, while Station 5 – located off of Sullivan Road near Spokane Industrial Park – will be dubbed Sullivan Fire Station.
It’s still unclear when the new designations will become official, fire commissioners learned Monday. However, signage will be ordered soon, reported Deputy Fire Chief Larry Rider.
“Let’s do it, money permitting and weather permitting,” said Commissioner Bill Anderson.
Most of the fire department’s stations bear numeric designations based on the engines they house. Last year, though, a Customer Loyalty Effect Committee – charged with strengthening the department’s emotional ties with the jurisdictions they serve – suggested the digits be dumped in favor of names that more accurately reflect where the stations are located.
On Sept. 11, 2010, the first station of the Valley Fire Department to receive its own personal identity was the Greenacres Fire Station, formerly Station 10. The board agreed to transition in naming the rest of the department’s nine stations over a period of years as funding allows.
In August, open houses were held at Stations 4, located at 22406 E. Wellesley, and Station 5, 15510 E. Marietta. Those attending were asked to give their suggestions on the names, and Otis Orchards was the overwhelming choice for Station 4.
“It was a pretty obvious choice,” said Fire Chief Mike Thompson.
Station 5’s naming was given a boost for the “Sullivan” name not so much for the proximity to the road, but due to a suggestion by Jayne Singleton, director of the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum, who noted that John P. Sullivan homesteaded in the area in the late 1800s, and the road subsequently named after him.
Rider said that the Otis Orchards station would need newer lighting put in to illuminate signage, while the Sullivan station would need identification markers on two ends of the building.
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TheSpokane Valley News Herald