Photo By Crystal Farris | Firefighter Matt Conklin conducts routine maintenance on a fire engine at the Orchard...... read more read more
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In 2022, the Idaho National Guard’s Orchard Fire & Emergency Services received a federally funded equipment push to modernize its capabilities and moved into a newly renovated fire station. The updates came in time to prepare the department as the Idaho National Guard’s Orchard Combat Training Center expanded from approximately 143,000 acres to more than 170,000 acres late last year.
Located in the OCTC, the Orchard Fire & Emergency Services protects the center’s vast terrain, it’s surrounding infrastructure and service members training in the area. It also protects local communities by aiding motorist and civil authorities during emergencies.
“The Orchard Fire & Emergency Services has been a great benefit to both the Idaho National Guard and Idahoans in the surrounding communities,” said Lt. Col Eric Sharp, OCTC director. “As the OCTC’s infrastructure and number of Soldiers training has grown rapidly over the past two decades, it was necessary to establish the department and later expand it to protect these critical assets.”
Established in 2013, the department once employed less than 15 structural firefighters, but is now comprised of approximately 30 state employees, including part time Guardsmen, who are trained in both structural and wildland firefighting.
Each year, thousands of military members from different countries and states across the U.S. come to the OCTC to train on its world-class ranges. Last year, the Orchard Fire & Emergency Services supported 126,988 training days for Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and members of the Republic of Singapore Air Force who trained within the center.
During that time, firefighters responded to more than 120 fires within the OCTC, said Stacey Harter, Orchard Fire & Emergency Services fire chief. The department also responded to more than 40 emergency service calls along a stretch of near-by I-84 corridor.
“The Orchard Fire and Emergency Services is able to support emergency responses in local communities and during accidents on the interstate through mutual aid agreements,” said Sharp. “The agreements provide a benefit to not only those in need during emergencies, but also our firefighters who continuously hone their skills.”
In 2014, the Idaho National Guard established mutual aid agreements between Orchard Fire & Emergency Services, the Boise Fire Department and the Oasis Volunteer Fire Department and later with the Idaho Transportation Department in 2020. Currently, it is working to establish two more agreements with the Mountain Home Fire Department and Mountain Home Air Force Base.
Since 2019, the Orchard Fire & Emergency Services has accepted a modernized fleet of fire protection and fire emergency services vehicles, as well as supporting equipment.
New equipment includes fire engines, a rescue engine, a ladder truck, a water tender, heavy rescue trucks and a command light rescue truck, as well as mobile radios, multi-gas detectors, thermal imaging cameras, vehicle rescue equipment, personal protective equipment and hazardous materials decontamination equipment.
As part of the updates, the department also received over $6 million dollars in building renovations, which took approximately 15 months to complete and more than doubled the facility’s size from 10,000 to 21,000 square feet in 2022.
Renovations to the fire station include a new training room with tiered seating, an updated kitchen, private residential rooms, a physical fitness center and expansions of its administrative offices and covered vehicle bays.
| Date Taken: | 02.14.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 02.14.2023 12:18 |
| Story ID: | 438445 |
| Location: | BOISE, IDAHO, US |
| Web Views: | 707 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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