Legion Road Firehouse

In March 1979, then fire chief Chris Koehl submitted a proposal to the city council regarding the need for a second fire station. Quarters at the Jefferson Street station had become over-crowded to the point that one of their emergency vehicles was being kept off-site, and even with that the Jefferson Street building was extremely cramped. Koehl proposed an additional firehouse be built further west, more centered in their protection district, which at that time stretched all the way to Sunnyland Plaza. His original recommendation suggested a new firehouse on North Cummings Lane. Mayor Arden Muller promised to form a committee to look at the issue.

In December 1979 it was announced that the city had purchased 5 acres on Legion Road from Homer Muller for the construction of a new firehouse and water tower.

By 1981 plans had changed a bit, and when the bids were granted for work to be done it was stated that the building would only be a basic structure used to lessen the over-crowding at the primary fire station, with future plans to upgrade the facilities to a working fire station. By the time the building was finally constructed, approximately 80% of the labor was performed by the volunteer firefighters.

The building did serve as a working fire station for a short time, but only for night calls. Volunteer firefighters that lived west of Cummings Lane responded to the Legion Road station for those infrequent evening calls.

In addition to its short stint as a fire station, the building was also used as a storage facility, as well as a space for training, classes and business meetings. The building also housed the antique fire engine used in parades.

The radio facilities in the building got some use by the ESDA (Emergency Service & Disaster Agency) as well as Washington Police and EMA (Emergency Management Agency) radio repeaters, using the building’s radio tower at different times during the history of the building.

At some point in the early 2000’s the building stopped being used for emergency purposes and is now solely used by the Washington’s Department of Public Works.