Moving day for Golden Valley Fire

June 20th, 2013

Today’s move was planned nearly 8 months ago when the Golden Valley Fire District Board of Directors approved a plan brought to them by Fire Chief Thomas O’Donohue to construct a new fire station, ultimately located at 3480 Bacobi Road. The new “Station-11” will replace the Mayer Road station that was constructed in 1979. “The new fire station location better serves the community” said O’Donohue, outlining how this moves covers the SoHi area which, until now, was outside the 5-mile distance to qualify for lower insurance rates. It is one of three full-time firefighter/paramedic staffed fire stations, the others are Station-12 at 749 Egar Rd and Station-13 at 2790 Oatman Road. The Golden Valley Fire District’s Public Safety Training Center located at 423 S. Colorado Road, is planned to fill a void as well as part of a strategic plan to bring lower insurance rates to a growing section of Golden Valley according to O’Donohue. The new station, which cost approximately $830,000, has an estimated value closer to 1.5 million dollars as estimated by Board member Steve Robinson. The difference between the value and the final cost was due to consistent attention to cutting costs, and use of inmate labor that saved approximately a half-million dollars in labor expenses alone. The new 12,000 square foot fire station boasts six bedrooms, large kitchen, exercise room, large dayroom that can double for training and meetings, larger captain’s office, firefighter report and study room, and space for up to eight emergency apparatus. The Administrative offices will remain at the old facility while the Board considers options to expand to meet growing needs. An open house for the public is planned for early July.

Brush Fire Slows Hwy-68 Traffic

Golden Valley Firefighters quickly extinguish a fast-moving blaze Tuesday, just before noon, on Hwy-68 between Tooman and Bryce Roads. Fire Chief Thomas O’Donohue stated an ADOT employee reported the fire, which began on the north side of the highway. Firefighters arrived within two minutes of dispatch, and the fire had grown over ten times its original size.  O’Donohue stated the Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire, which slowed traffic for about 30-minutes, while firefighters extinguished the fire and looked for hot-spots to prevent re-ignition. There was no damage to any property due to this fire.

Photo by Butch Meriwether:

Golden Valley Firefighers/Paramedics on scene of a rollover accident.

Narrative:

Golden Valley Fire District personnel was requested to the scene of a single-vehicle rollover on Interstate 40 Eastbound, milepost 32, at approximately 3:30 pm on Friday, May 16th. The lone occupant of the vehicle refused medical transport after the vehicle rolled several times, landing upright on its tires.

MVA Hwy-68 Near Teddy

Photos by Butch Meriwether:

Golden Valley Firefighter/Paramedics and ambulance crews treat the injured driver.

Narrative:

Golden Valley Fire District personnel responded to a single-vehicle accident on Westbound Hwy 68, between Colorado Road and Teddy Roosevelt Road, Thursday at approximately 6:00 pm. The lone 34 year-old male driver of the 2002 Ford Focus lost control and slammed into the concrete barrier of the bridge. The driver was extracted by fire personnel and transported to Kingman Regional Medical Center with serious, but non-life threatening injuries, per Battalion Chief David Martin. 

Breakfast with the Fire Chief

Golden Valley Fire Chief Thomas O’Donohue will be at the El Rancho Café located at 4248 Hwy-68 on Monday May 6^th at 7:00 a.m. to meet with patrons for about an hour. The idea came to O’Donohue when he and Fire Marshal Randy Osborn were having breakfast last week and began entertaining questions from those in the restaurant. “Before we knew it, the place went quite to hear both the questions and answers” O’Donohue said. It dawned on O’Donohue & Osborn that this may be the perfect venue to connect to the community in a relaxed atmosphere while enjoying breakfast. O’Donohue says he has tentatively agreed to hold the “Breakfast with the Fire Chief” every first Monday of the next few months to see if it gains a following. If it does, those dining will have an opportunity to interact outside of the monthly Board meetings which are held the third Wednesday at the Golden Valley Fire Public Safety Center at 423 S. Colorado. O’Donohue added: “I’m willing to meet with any community group who calls the office and schedules time for me”.