Approximately thirty-five community members attended an informational meeting hosted by Ekalaka Volunteer Fire Department (EVFD) on Monday night. The meeting, held at Carter County Events Center, was about the department's need for a new fire hall.

Members of the department started the meeting by speaking about Insurance Service Office (ISO) fire ratings. ISO is a for profit organization that provides statistical information on risk. According to EVFD, Ekalaka currently has an ISO rating between nine and 10. The ISO rating range is from 10 to 1 with "1" being the best. Several factors can go into this rating. One large factor is the amount of available equipment that a fire department has.

EVFD has added several pieces of equipment in the last few years including a 1988 Pierce pumper truck for structure fires. That truck was given to EVFD by the West Glendive Fire Department last May. However, the large truck, along with all of their other equipment, must be kept inside a heated building-filled with water and ready to go-in order to improve the department's ISO rating.

Right now it isn't.

EVFD Chief Mark Wright said that the department currently has the trucks and equipment they need to bring the ISO rating down to a four if they had a fire hall to properly store everything. He also said that getting that rating down to a four would cut residents' and business owners' fire insurance of about $1,500 per year in half. That figure, although an estimate, would certainly save a lot of money.

Department members then moved on and spoke briefly about their proposed hall. The current engineered print is for a 120 foot by 40 foot building. Although they would ideally like a larger building, the can't afford it because a larger building would require its own internal sprinkler system. The building would be able to house all of their current equipment and would include a bathroom, a laundry facility, and a meeting room. Wright estimates the cost to heat the building for a year at $2,100 and mentioned that they currently spend a lot of money fixing and replacing equipment that has to be kept outside.

The department has raised $130,000 on their own for the new facility. They would like to build the hall with volunteer labor, except for the plumbing and electrical, and have had several members of the community come forward who would be willing to help.

They would also like the new hall to be located in the Town of Ekalaka.

Jamie Ausk Crisafulli

Ekalaka firefighter Andy Wright, West Glendive Asst. Fire Chief Darren Ryan, Ekalaka Fire Chief Mark Wright, West Glendive firefighter Warren Pierce and WGFD Chief Richie Crisafulli pose by the truck the West Glendive Fire Department donated to Ekalaka last May.

When asked about their current relationship with the Town, department members only stated, "We are not here to talk politics or put anybody down." Instead, the meeting was focused on why the building needs to be constructed and specifics of said building.

Before the close of the meeting Wright stated, "We need the building now, this year, not years from now."

Yet, issues between EVFD and the Town of Ekalaka remain unresolved, and the construction of a new fire hall seems to be up in the air.