The East Harwich fire station.
EAST HARWICH – Selectmen in Harwich unanimously supported expansion plans for the East Harwich fire station this week after a presentation by the fire station building committee.
Residents will decide on a $310,000 debut exclusion for hiring an architect and creating plans and bid documents at spring town meeting.
“It’s a 40-year-old building. It needs some upgrading in many ways,” said Harwich Fire Chief Norman Clarke. “It’s outgrown its usefulness in East Harwich.”
Clarke said the department has both male and female personnel and that the station does not provide the proper environment for the employees.
The fire apparatus used at the station is larger and has different needs that cannot be met.
“The committee and I have agreed that adding on to the present structure is a good idea,” Clarke said. “We don’t need to tear it down and build new.”
Clarke said a consultant does not believe the construction would exceed $4 million.
The station, which staffs 3 firefighters 24 hours a day, conducted 1,448 runs last year out of the 4,322 by the entire department.
Clarke said the growth of fire department activity has nearly doubled since he began working with the department almost 40 years ago.
“East Harwich is the growth center of the town right now,” Clarke said. “With the building out there it’s a terrific commercial area. There are some really nice residential areas and it is the home to Fontaine Medical Center.”
The department transported 425 individuals from Fontaine Outpatient Center to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis last year.
“That is a significant impact,” Clarke said.
Clarke believes the timeline to get the project up and running is about 2 years.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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