Missoula outlines plans for a new Fire Station 6 and co-located mobile crisis unit

Fire Chief Lonnie Rasch outlined preliminary plans to site a new Fire Station 6 in growing sections of Missoula and to co-locate administrative support for a mobile crisis response unit.

Rasch said the city selected 45 Architecture as design lead, with Rice Ferguson Miller serving as a specialty partner for fire- and emergency-service facility expertise. The immediate funding need is for design standards and planning work, which Rasch estimated at about $125,000 before construction planning can proceed.

On response-time performance, Rasch said that with current deployment only about 54% of addresses fall inside a 4-minute response window; placing Station 6 in the candidate area would reduce the share of addresses outside the 4-minute goal from 46% to 29%, improving coverage for underserved residential and commercial points around Reserve Street and south Avenue.

Rasch described the station as a tool to relieve operational strain on existing stations, allowing crews to maintain readiness and training while reducing response gaps in a part of the city that has seen residential growth toward the airport. He stressed the planning phase is early and that community input will be sought before a final site or funding plan is advanced.

What's next: public meetings and further design work are planned; Rasch said a fire station is not expected within one to two years and that a multi-year timeframe (three to five years or longer) is more realistic for construction and full operation.

Sources: comments by Lonnie Rasch carried on the Wake Up Missoula Feb. 6 program. Quotes are attributed to Rasch as heard on air.