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December 3, 2009

Big Horn County News

Hardin’s firefighters move to bigger, shinier fire hall

If there had been a fire in Hardin on Friday night, engines would not have responded out of the fire hall on Cheyenne Street. No firemen would have hastily driven there to don their gear.

That’s because they would have been suiting up at the city’s new fire hall, located on the corner of Custer and 11th. “We are ready to roll out of that building,” said Fire Chief Larry Vandersloot.

About a dozen of the firefighters moved their gear, the engines, a poker table, an aging television set and a refrigerator to the new 6500-square-foot facility Friday. Members of the squad said they are excited to be in the new space, which includes shower and laundry facilities lacking in the old location, but note that the business of firefighting will remain the same.

Daniel Klingenstein, 50, has been with the department for nearly 21 years. He said the biggest difficulty will be knowing where to find things and remembering to go to the new fire hall when he gets a call on his pager instead of the old one. “There’s just going to be a learning curve,” said Klingenstein, known as “Klinger” among his comrades. “But as for the fire, that’s the same.”

At 50 and with the time he’s put into the department, Klingenstein said he could retire, but hasn’t made up his mind. “I’m at retirement age, but I’m conflicted,” he said. “Some days I think I’ll let the young guys run it.” He hasn’t retired, though, and said it’s the camaraderie that keeps him on. “What keeps me there is the friends I have,” Klingenstein said. “We’re pretty close-knit. You might not know the guy when he gets on, but after a few fires, you get to be friends.

Abe Garcia is one of those younger guys. He’s 25 and has been with the department since May. “It’s a good group of guys,” said Garcia. “We sacrifice our personal time to do this for the community. I could be at my kid’s birthday and get called.”

The larger fire hall will allow for the city to add another fire truck if needed, said Vandersloot. The city also wanted to build a fire hall that was more centrally located to save on insurance costs and provide faster service. In April, The Hardin City Council accepted a $619,000 bid from Ridgeview Construction to build the new hall after a previous call for bids resulted in offers that were out of line with the city’s budget. The city then reduced the proposed hall’s size by 1,350 square feet and called for bids again. Brian Unruh, one of the owners of Ridgeview Construction, said the construction was finished two weeks ago at a total cost of $626,000.