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Board backs White Mountain Fire’s plan for a new Benton station and Hammel Valley satellite; district seeks outside funding
Summary
White Mountain Fire Chief Dave Dunan described a decades‑old station the district says is undersized, lacks decontamination and extraction systems, and offers no secure parking or water storage. The board voted 5–0 to provide a letter of support and asked staff to return with a workshop and material on the Hammel Valley parcel.
White Mountain Fire Protection District Chief Dave Dunan asked the Mono County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 18 for a letter of county support as the district pursues outside funding to replace its aging Benton station and explore a satellite site in Hammel Valley.
Dunan described the existing station as built in 1988 with an older Quonset hut and a mobile home used as a training classroom. He told the board the facility lacks key modern features: vehicle‑exhaust extraction, an on‑site commercial turnout laundry and decontamination areas to remove carcinogenic residues, proper drainage, secure apparatus parking and a bona fide water supply. Dunan said an Insurance Services Office (ISO) classification improvement requires a permanent 30,000‑gallon water storage capacity (sized to allow two 50‑gpm flows for two hours).
The district presented an architect’s rendering showing apparatus bays, an onsite 30,000‑gallon tank, training space and modest living quarters for EMT staffing. Dunan acknowledged preliminary cost estimates are high and that the district will pursue multiple funding sources, including USDA funding, congressional grants, grant programs and in‑kind site work to lower the financed amount. He said the district’s mail‑in survey of Tri‑Valley residents showed broad support for increasing emergency capacity.
Board members asked detailed questions about funding strategy, community participation and the parcel the county acquired in Hammel Valley in 2009. Supervisors asked staff to provide additional materials and suggested a future workshop to review the Hammel Valley property’s history, parcel constraints (a large wash bisects the lot) and potential uses. The board voted unanimously, 5–0, to provide a letter of support for the district’s replacement station project.
Ending: Chief Dunan said the district will use the letter of support in grant and loan applications and continue refining budgets and phasing to close a funding gap. The board’s request for a workshop signals further county engagement on siting and funding options.
