Fire Station History
Spokane Public Radio is rehabilitating a historic Spokane treasure, Fire Station No. 3 on North Monroe and Sharp. Many of the renovation plans preserve the history of the building, its functions, and the people who worked there.
The original Fire House was actually a wooden structure, which was torn down in 1917 and replaced with the brick building that stands today. It will house KSFC downstairs and the various financial and events offices upstairs.
In 1912, the department built a brick building directly behind (west of) the wood structure to build Spokane's first fire engines and then maintain those machines. That machine shop will house KPBX and a performance studio downstairs, and KPBZ with volunteer areas upstairs.
When the wooden structure came down, the new brick building was designed to butt directly against the machine shop to combine the two buildings.
The front of the station had three bays, each with its own door. The center bay was longer, making room for the ladder truck. A large door hung floor-to-ceiling on tracks at the back of the middle bay. It could be rolled aside to open the machine shop beyond.
Watch this page in coming months for more photos and history of Fire Station 3, as well as progress on the Oral History Project of Fire Station No. 3
More about the Moving to a Sound Future project is here.