News

Station 72 expansion and new training tower

October 6, 2025

 

Progress over a busy summer season

Following two fire training academies in early 2025, Gresham Fire is expanding Fire Station 72 on Kane Drive to provide second-floor quarters for firefighter/paramedics staffing the new emergency Rescue unit (Rescue 72) — positions funded in May 2024 by the voter-approved Fire and Police Levy.

Starting fall 2025, the department is also launching construction of a new state-of-the-art training tower at the Fire Training Center — owned by Multnomah County Fire District 10 and operated by Gresham — replacing the 1960s-era tower that was demolished in September. Watch the demolition timelapse.

The new $1 million, four-floor tower is funded by a State of Oregon grant and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds approved by Gresham City Council, at no additional cost to Gresham taxpayers. The new structure will provide approximately 2,600 square feet of interior space, two burn rooms, fire props, and rappelling anchors for rope-rescue training.

   

Improved infrastructure, better service

"We need a bigger and better prop, basically,” said Training Capt. Andrew Goeden, adding the new tower will simulate single-family and apartment-style floor plans with enough height to practice both rappelling and cutting holes in roofs.

Generations of firefighters ran and pulled hose up the old tower’s steps to build skill, strength and endurance, and one never-to-be-forgotten search-and-rescue exercise involved suspending a limousine from the top.

“The (old) Tower became legendary in its own right,” Assistant Chief Jeffrey Hairston remarked in a farewell email sent to personnel before it was demolished. “It was the home of the famous ‘Tower Talk’ and the unforgettable ‘Tower-Power’ workouts...It stood as a constant in our training, and in doing so, it helped shape the caliber of firefighters who serve this department and city.”

   

Staying nimble

The Fire Department's infrastructure projects rolled out during a busy summer call season that included a spate of residential fires in Gresham and the surrounding three cities it serves under contract, a large tire warehouse blaze Aug. 22, and deploying on wildland fire conflagrations. Nearing September’s end, the department had already seen 19 building fires that month, more than double the average number for September compared to the previous three years.

The projects have also required flexibility and creativity.

For example, the temporary Station 72 closure during construction has required some shifting of staff, and apparatus, but crews and leadership are making the best of it, and continuing to respond to Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village with speed and excellence, Fire Chief Derik Minard said.

At the moment, Engine 72’s crew is bunking in a conference room at Station 71, but as much as possible, the engine roves near its regular service area for faster response. Meanwhile, the new Rescue 72 is temporarily responding from Station 76 and Haz Mat (normally housed at Station 72) is responding from Station 74. And through it all, response time for significant incidents has stayed near normal.
 
"In previous years, these unique challenges would have put a significant strain on our ability to maintain a high level of responsiveness for our footprint,” Minard said. “It is all thanks to our community for supporting the 2024 Fire and Police Levy. Through their investment, which allowed us to hire those critical new positions, we have been able to rise to the occasion."
 

Future of Station 74

Constructed in 1966, Station 74 is the next replacement priority: the unreinforced concrete block structure does not meet seismic standards, serving one of the most diverse and economically challenged neighborhoods, and responding to more than 5,000 calls per year. That replacement will be paid for with $8 million in state funds, $5 million from the Rockwood-West Gresham Urban Renewal Area and additional funding from the City of Gresham.