Palisades Neighborhood Association

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South Shore Fire Station Task Force – January 2026

Published January 4, 2026

Submitted by Chris Durkee, Task Force Chair –

South Shore Fire Station – Update
January 2026

Decontamination

When our firefighter/paramedics risk their lives daily to protect us, our families and our
property, we owe it to them to provide a safe and healthy environment back at the fire
station where they live. When returning from a fire, our firefighter/paramedics are
covered with any number of contaminants, some of which are carcinogenic. These
contaminants vary depending on the type of fire:

House fires: soot, smoke, ash and residue from burning plastic, electronics, asbestos,
and lead. These include fine dust that can eventually cause heart disease and cancer.

Car fires: in addition to those in house fires – petroleum-derived VOC’s from fuel and
rubber.

Electric Vehicle fires: “thermal runaway” of lithium-ion batteries creates unique toxins in
addition to non-EV fires. These include hydrogen fluoride (highly toxic and corrosive
gas) and heavy metals such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, and manganese vaporized or in
particulates.

While fighting the fire, our firefighter/paramedics are well protected by their turnouts,
masks, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), and other personal protective
equipment.

Initial decontamination occurs on site – with a good hosing down and scrubbing with a
special soap (see photo). But complete decontamination can only occur with special
equipment that is planned for the new fire station. This new equipment is specially
designed to thoroughly clean their turnouts, boots, gloves, etc. Other special equipment
cleans the various parts of the SCBA’s (complete decontamination is currently
performed by an outside subcontractor).

The fire station must be designed with this equipment in mind, and include a special air
handling system that will create a small negative pressure in the decontamination
spaces to prevent airborne contaminates from migrating into living quarters.
The new South Shore Fire Station will have proper decontamination spaces, equipment,
and pressure-differential air handling systems to provide a healthy environment for
these dedicated folks who serve us so heroically.

Lake Oswego Fire Station Rebuild PAC: A citizen-led, citizen-funded committee has
been formed to raise awareness of this vital public project and encourage a “YES” vote
in May. The committee directors are Chris Durkee, Jeff Gudman and Carrie Love, and
include residents from all over Lake Oswego. For more information, please email me:
durkeechris@yahoo.com. (Our committee’s website will be up later this month).

Stay tuned for more information in future updates!



Learn more about the South Shore Fire Station Task Force:

Website: www.lakeoswego.city/SSFSproject            email: durkeechris@yahoo.com


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Neighborhood Enhancement Program (NEP) Project Coordinator

Primary Role:

  • Handles NEP grant applications, grant approvals, reviews receipts for reimbursement and is the single point of contact between the entire Palisades Neighborhood Association (PNA) and the City.
  • To be successfull in this role you should be organized, communicative.
  • Time commitment: From 8-12 hrs. throughout the year

Process:

  • Accepting NEP proposals: Anyone living in the Palisades Neighborhood Association can submit proposal(s) to the NEP Coordinator along with estimated costs throughout the year. They should follow the application guidelines and answer the questions related to their proposal.
  • PNA Board will Vote on Which Items To Include in our NEP Proposal: During the month of March PNA board meeting the NEP Coordinator asks the board to vote on the proposed item(s). NEP Coordinator encourages person(s) proposing the item(s) to attend the meeting to answer questions that might come up. The PNA board then votes on which items should be included in the NEP grant proposal.
  • Developing and Submitting the NEP Grant Proposalt: During the NEP grant proposal period (usually the month of May) the NEP Project Coordinator:
    • Fills out the NEP grant proposal application based on items approved by the PNA Board;
    • Gets sign offs from the PNA Chair
    • Submits the proposal form to the city in early May for the initial review process
    • Provides additional information requested by the city
    • Revises and submits the final application to the City by the deadline (typically May 31).

What Happens Next:

  • Iris McCaleb from the City forwards the NEP grant proposals to the grant review committee and then to the City Council who review it and awards certain grants.The NEP Coordinator will receive a letter of award from the City and will share it with the PNA Leadership Team.
  • As items are purchased from the approved grant list, the project close-out form is filled out by the person requesting reimbursement. They will attach digital copies of receipts and photos and then submit all to both the NEP Project Coordinator and the PNA Chair. The NEP Project Coordinator submits the reimbursement request to Iris at the City for reimbursement.
  • Reimbursement checks are then sent directly to the person who purchased the item(s).