Speech: At The Dedication of a Fire Station

This speech was prepared for the dedication of the
Powell Butte Fire Station by Crook County Judge
Scott R. Cooper, Feb. 1, 2003. The speech was never delivered,
but was replaced by hastily written replacement remarks, more
reflective of the somber moment created by the explosion of the
Columbia Space Shuttle the morning of the dedication


Remember the old days in Powell Butte before we built the substation?

In the old days a Powell Butte Farmer might look out the kitchen window and see the barn on fire. Naturally, his first response was to call Prineville and yell into the phone, “Come quick, my barn's on fire!"

Being wise and calm types, the first question the firefighter or dispatcher on the other end of the line might be expected to ask was “Tell me where you are.”

Being a bit excited by the sight of flames shooting through the roof and his alfalfa stash going up in smoke, the Powell Butte farmer might likely reply: “I'm in the kitchen! Now hurry up, before my barn burns down!”

Fortunately, firemen are used to excited callers. "No,no!" he would say. "How do we to you?

To which the now exasperated farmer might reply, “Don’t you have those big red trucks anymore?”

Well that’s how it used to be in the old days. But not anymore. Because, now ladies and gentlemen, Powell Butte has its very own fire station in its very own backyard. Although the men and women of the Prineville fire department and the people of Prineville have always considered the folks in Powell Butte to be friends and neighbors just like the people next door, from now on when you call for help, it will REALLY be the people next door, and that’s a wonderful thing.

It’s a great honor and privilege to be here today to help dedicate this station, which has literally risen out of nothing. Despite the hard work of a lot of people, it seems like a dream.

Just a few weeks ago, I wandered out here and I thought I must have dreamed it.

I had a call from a photographer from Oregon Business Magazine who wanted to take a picture of me in front of something illustrating progress in Crook County. I knew the station was close to completion, so I offered to meet him in Powell Butte in front of the school and then drive to the new substation. It was one of those bitterly cold days, when frost was hanging from all the trees and fences in the area, but I figured it was just a photo. I could stand the cold for a little while.

At the appointed time, about an hour before dark, I jumped in the car and drove up the grade from the courthouse. And at the top of the grade I encountered dense, dense, fog. Remember? I had to meet the reporter who was working on a deadline, and I had come this far. I couldn’t turn back. So I found the reporter and we headed out toward Reif Road. But when we came to the fire station, it wasn’t there! It had literally disappeared in the fog. We wandered around for a good 20 minutes trying to find it and literally stumbled across it.

As it turned out, we got some pretty good pictures of me in front of a beautiful, pristine station, emerging sort of ghostlike from the fog. It was an apt metaphor for this facility and for Powell Butte, both of which are emerging into a new and exciting life.

I like to think that this is just the beginning of great new things in this community. Some of you were here earlier this summer when we broke ground for the community center—the community center which didn’t even have planning approval at the time. I took the golden shovel from that event back to the Courthouse and hung it on the wall outside the Planning Department, where it still is, serving as a daily reminder to everyone who passes through those doors that our local government is supposed to be about growing and building and developing communities as it is about saving, preserving and protecting them.

In that regard, good planning departments and fire stations have much in common. They serve common functions supporting growth and development and preservation and protection. I know that this one will serve those functions well.

In the end, of course, a fire station is only as good as the people as who work out of it. And no dedication would be complete without a nod of tribute to the men and women who dedicate their lives to saving the lives and property of others. The Crook County Rural Fire Protection District has an excellent and dedicated staff. They have gone through birthing pains and growing pains in the last couple of years, as they have shifted their focus from a small area to an enormous swath of the county. They have performed admirably without missing a step. We owe them gratitude, and I hope that each time you hear sirens of a fire truck or ambulances ring out, you will stop and say a little prayer for the safety of those who are racing to the aid of others.

Let me conclude then by saying that while this is a milestone in Powell Butte’s history and a milestone in the history of the Crook County Rural Fire Protection District, it is also a milestone for the history of Crook County as a whole.

By dedicating this station today, we join a long and distinguished line of historical community-builders. Indeed it was Benjamin Franklin, who established this country’s first volunteer fire department in Philadelphia in 1736. And it was George Washington who imported the first fire engine in 1765. In more recent days, we all remember the firefighters who became America’s heroes in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.

Firefighting is a noble cause, a fine art and an essential element to every great community. Powell Butte is a great community, made better and safer by the presence of this station, and it is an honor and a privilege to join you in dedicating this station today.