Spokane County Fire District 13, also known as Newman Lake Fire & Rescue, is considering whether to place a bond measure on the November ballot to fund the construction of an estimated $2 million fire station.

The station would be developed on about 12 acres of land the district owns at the southeast corner of Starr and Moffat roads.

Seattle-based TCA Architecture, working with Longwell+Trapp Architects PLLC, of Hayden, Idaho, recently completed design work for the proposed station, says Fire Chief Keith Yamane. The new facility would replace the district's Station 1 at 10236 N. West Newman Lake Drive, which was built in 1966.

Yamane says that district's board of elected commissioners likely will make a final decision by July or early August whether to put the bond request before voters. If approved, the estimated cost for a $200,000 home would be about $104 a year over the life of a 20-year bond.

Based on the completed design, the new station would have a little more than 10,000 square feet of floor space and would include five engine bays, administrative offices, maintenance and tool shop, training and meeting room, kitchen, laundry room, and physical training room. It may also have sleeping quarters for volunteer firefighters who are on call for an overnight shift but don't live nearby.

The district has considered building a new station for about 10 years. In an information flier handed out at public meetings, the district says Station 1 has a number of safety issues, including tight space for large modern fire engines, which also means minimal room for firefighters to move around them in bays. Also, the flier says, the station lacks a sprinkler system, emergency backup power, a separate sink and washing area for disinfecting equipment, and proper ventilation in the bays to dissipate exhaust emissions from the trucks.

"We've grown," Yamane says. "They originally built it for a garage to store apparatus. The engines back then were a lot smaller."

The district is considering selling the Station 1 property if the new station is built. The station building has about 2,500 square feet of floor space and sits on about a half an acre site.

Newman Lake Fire & Rescue is staffed by 19 volunteer firefighters who are governed by the same state and federal regulations as paid fire department firefighters. It employs a full-time chief, two part-time deputy chiefs, and a part-time finance officer. Its firefighting and rescue volunteers cover a 25-square-mile district.

Newman Lake has one other station, named Station 2, at 16108 N. West Newman Lake Drive, near the north end of Newman Lake, at the intersection of Muzzy, West Newman and Thompson Creek roads.