Hood River Fire Department Tour 2020

First Impressions Hood River Fire Department

Yesterday, I had to make a stop to visit the Hood River Fire Department and as I had never been there before I did not know exactly what to expect and was impressed for a variety of reasons. So, the stop was a personal one and wanted to write a great review for the outstanding job the Hood River Fire Department was doing. Initially, when you walk into the department you will see a reception area, and next to this is a somewhat historical wall full of some memorabilia from years past and past crews, complete with pictures of decades old fire crews.

Memorabilia Hood River Fire Dept — Memorabilia at the entrance of the Hood River Fire Dept

I was promptly greeted properly and had about a minute to look around and first big impressive thing to look at was an old firetruck. Offhand I am not exactly what year this firetruck is from, if anyone reading this knows please feel free to comment on that. It was interesting to see this old truck, complete with an old lantern in the back.

Old Hood River Firetruck — Old Firetruck from Hood River, OR.

I next had the opportunity to get a quick tour of the building and everything is very well kept, very clean, and all of the equipment looks brand new, clean and ready to go on a moment notice. Of course I heard the sounds of radios and calls going in and out, fireman lingo of which I wasn’t sure what it all meant but I”m sure they had things well under control.

The “hangar” area had a few nice looking firetrucks and they all look like they have state of the art equipment in there and I had no idea but they even had an offroad sort of ATV looking vehicle.

Fire Vehicle Hood River — Hood River Fire Dept Off Road vehicle

Living Conditions of the Hood River Fire Department

I was especially impressed with the overall living conditions, they had an amazing living room and somewhat of a in station home theater area.

Hood River Fire Dept Living Space — Hood River Living area and home theater setup

Next we came upon the kitchen area and I was also impressed with this. This area is complete with an advanced set up whereby the cooking area automatically switches off in case of an emergency. Once the alarms go off the equipment such as the ovens, BBQ and other things needed to cook are on an auto switch off in case of an emergency.

Hood River Fire Kitchen area — Kitchen area for Hood River Fire Dept

Final Thoughts on the Hood River Fire Department

Overall I was very impressed with everything that I saw in the Hood River Fire Department. I can say that they are making excellent use of the taxpayers money and everything was well kept, clean, and efficient. Aside from some slight wear and tear on some desk chairs in the main working area (totally expected and unpreventable) most equipment I noticed was pretty much flawless, well maintained, and kept in great working order. To top this not only was the station clean but everything was kept looking top notch and shiny such as the trucks, living spaces, kitchen and vehicles. As a note on the actual vehicles I felt they looked like they were off a showroom they were kept in such great condition. I was also struck by how advanced some of the equipment looked. I also learned that in the ambulance I believe they can do most necessary work that an emergency room can do for roughly the first 30 minutes, I believe if I am not mistaken that is what I was told. Adding to this facility is the fact that they are located right next to the community pool and tennis courts. Hood River should be very proud of their Fire Department as I sure was.

I will post some additional photos below and hope you all enjoy looking at some of the equipment and photos I took.