Non-profit group to donate $625,000 for building
By Jeni Jewell
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 7:13 p.m.
Read more: Local
TORCH LAKE TOWNSHIP -- A Copper Country fire department is getting a new fire hall, and they're building it without taxpayer money.
Once the project is complete, hopefully by 2011, the Torch Lake Township will own the new Bootjack Fire Hall.
There's not much room for fire trucks to fit in the current, four bay garage.
It's the main reason the Bootjack Fire Foundation is building another one, with better clearance. It will also be set back from the road to eliminate traffic hazards when trucks pull out of the garage.
"The clearance through the doors right now is only a couple of inches," said volunteer firefighter, Lou Ambuel. "The trucks themselves, they're so compacted together."
The new garage will have five bays, which will house three trucks, the fire and rescue vehicle, and the trailers containing the departments hovercraft and rescue ATV. And because the foundation is fund-raising to pay for the $65,000 project, taxpayers won't have to pay for the new building.
"We anticipate it will take exactly two years before we'll be occupying the building", said Foundation President, Dan Sarazin.
The foundation hopes to start phase two of the project within the year by the end of the year, a training room for the firefighters. Right now they don't have the funding for it.
The next big fund-raiser is the annual chicken barbeque on July 19 at the current fire hall.
The foundation has also started to seek pledges from community members to help pay for the remaining 60 percent of the building.
