- The North Blaine County Fire District leased land from the Idaho Department of Transportation at a dollar a year for 99 years!
- They have built 8 Zip Kit houses on them for employees and volunteers
- Hailey Fire Department built a tiny home
- Collaboration has led to successes during the housing crisis
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Over the past few decades finding affordable housing has been a prominent issue in Blaine County. Multiple fire department representatives discussed how they've been able to confront this issue for their employees and volunteers.
Throughout the valley, people in all professions have struggled to find adequate housing. Even as the number of homes grows, it isn't fast enough to meet the needs of everyone living and moving here. This impacting local fire departments like in Hailey.
Jamie Hoover the Operations Chief for City of Hailey Fire Department explained, "It's been hard, we've lost volunteers, we've lost staff due to the housing crisis and moving out of the area because they can't find a place to live here."
The North Blaine County Fire District contracts firefighters to the city of Sun Valley where they also are feeling the impacts and currently are looking for a way to offer housing for firefighters and EMTs.
So to find an idea that could help the future Chairman Jed Gray took a look back to the past when his parents moved here in 1949. He stated, "Sun Valley and Company back in the days and the early days of Bill Jenson and whatnot they had dormitories for people to come live and work. That was on a seasonal basis but as our population has grown we have become more of a year-round community."
This led to Gray whose title is a misnomer because he has never fought a fire, instead, he ensures the fire department has the equipment and the resources that they need to fight fires. This begins with housing. Through collaboration, they came up with the idea of purchasing Zip Kits.
Gray explained the houses as, "The units that we have, basically they're manufactured by Zip Kit in Idaho Falls. They're very, very nice units on the inside.
They're as good as any two-bedroom condominium you can find in the mid-level."
It's all possible through partnership and an affordable collaboration with the Idaho Department of Transportation which allows the district to sign a 99-year lease, for just a dollar a year. It's one step in what they hope will be long-term success.
I'll continue covering this issue throughout Blaine County in the coming weeks. If you have an interesting angle worth exploring please reach out to me at Tristan.Head@KSAWtv.com
