A headline in the Sedona Red Rock News stated that Uptown’s new fire station would be “adequate” for the next 20 years. That article was published on Feb. 10, 1972.

The station’s age and inadequate construction by today’s fire standards are two of the reasons the Sedona Fire District is seeking to replace the station with a new one. But where the money will come from for that project — and many others deemed necessary by SFD personnel — has yet to be determined. Earlier this year, the SFD Governing Board approved the creation of a citizen advisory committee to look into funding options, including a bond.

If deemed necessary by the committee, a $15 million bond would be proposed. That would equate to an increase of $17 a year per $100,000 of assessed value of a home. For example, the owners of a home valued at $360,000 would pay about an extra $60 per year.

Any bond would have to be approved by the voters this November.

The committee has already met several times including on April 11. During that public meeting, Lance Enyart and Randy Jones of LEA Architects, which designed SFD’s Station 6, were on hand at the meeting to go station by station and address the needs of each. Their report details needed improvements to each station as well as the grounds they sit on. As Chief Kris Kazian has noted in the past, the recommendation is to replace Station 4 in Uptown and Station 5 in Oak Creek Canyon.

“What’s been really important is the engagement that we’ve been afforded, not only with the senior leadership but with the firefighters themselves to determine the specific mission requirements for these stations,” Enyart said.

The following are issues or modifications needed to the fire stations themselves, as pointed out in the LEA report.

Fire Station No. 4
391 Forest Road

• Apparatus bays/doors are not tall enough for current fire apparatus.
• Insufficient apparatus support areas.
• Turn-out lockers located in apparatus bays.
• Current second level floor heights restrict heights at first floor.
• Stairs are not wide enough and are too steep.
• Physical fitness equipment on second level is causing floor damage.
• Dorms are spread out through second level.
• Building additions cause leaking.
• Multiple types of HVAC systems.
• Exposed electrical gear, conduit attached to exterior of structure.

Jones said the fact this station does not have drive-thru bays fails to meet today’s standards. But that’s not his greatest concern in regard to Station 4.

“The biggest issue is the apparatus bay doors and the apparatus bays themselves,” Jones said. “It’s a three-bay fire station yet only 10 feet in height and approximately 12 feet in width. With today’s fire stations, the recommend doors are 14 foot by 14 foot. It’s almost required because some of the larger apparatus vehicles in today’s fleets are really pushing those heights.”

Kazian agreed and added, “Efficiency is the most important critical function to me. Efficiency is in our response capabilities. It’s in our ability to maintain the station. And at some point, those don’t necessarily intersect anymore. I feel like at this point the building itself has lived a full, functional life but it was not designed to which the purposes it’s being used for today.”

Jones said that LEA agrees that a new station is needed as opposed to doing the station’s fifth remodeling.

Fire Station No. 5
3971 State Route 89A

• Apparatus bays/doors are not tall enough or deep enough for current apparatus.
• Insufficient apparatus support areas.
• Stairs are not wide enough and are too steep.
• Physical fitness equipment is located in existing apparatus bay.
• Residential fire sprinkler system is fed from well so water pump is not on emergency power.
• Electrical system does not meet current electrical code.

Kazian pointed out that SFD owns a 40-foot-by-40-foot section of the building with the Garland Family Trust owning the rest. The family leases the remainder of the building to SFD for a nominal annual amount.

Like Station 4, LEA recommends that Station 5 be rebuilt but not at that location.

“Unfortunately, this site is not appropriate, nor could it handle a modern-day fire station,” Davis said.

Fire Station No. 1
2860 Southwest Drive

• Relocate kitchen to upper level adjacent to dining/dayroom/patio.
• Expand day room/dining into the large exterior covered patio.
• Relocate three dorms to upper level so all dorms are on same level.
• Relocate crew office to upper level and move physical fitness to first floor.
• New dorm layout that is more functional.
• Increase showers in men’s restroom and make both restrooms ADA compliant.

Fire Station No. 3
125 Slide Rock Road

• Update current finishes in fire station living areas [kitchen/dining/day room].
• Repair or enclose second level balcony to resolve leaking issues.
• Repair or relocate evaporative coolers.
• Repair leaking HVAC condensate lines.
• Repair apparatus room ceiling by adding drywall expansion joints.

“We’re working really hard to understand what the future looks like,” Kazian said near the end of the three-hour meeting. “The more we ignore these problems, well, the problem doesn’t go away.”