EDDYVILLE, Ore. — Approximately 120 residents, firefighters and local officials attended the open house and ribbon-cutting Saturday at the new East Lincoln Fire District Headquarters on Nashville Road.

Notable attendees included state Rep. David Gomberg, who championed the project’s funding through Oregon Lottery bonds, an Oregon State Police representative and members of the Blodgett Fire Department.

The $4.5 million, 10,000-square-foot building includes four apparatus bays, four bedrooms for volunteer firefighters, a full kitchen and lounge, a 25,000-gallon fire suppression system, solar panels, sun tubes for natural lighting, an electric vehicle charging station and a training room that doubles as a community space. The room is open to the public and available for weddings, meetings, town halls and other community gatherings.

“During construction of the station a parallel project was to build a full-service fire agency,” said Will Ewing, chief of the Seal Rock and East Lincoln fire districts. “It came to fruition at about the same time. I’d say we did a pretty good job of that.”

Thirty volunteers from the Seal Rock and East Lincoln fire districts helped staff the event. Four additional volunteers signed up to join the districts during the gathering.

County Commissioner hopeful Joe Steere also attended the dedication.

The station, funded largely by Oregon Lottery bonds authorized in 2021 plus grants and donations including $20,000 from Starker Forests, is expected to cut emergency response times by roughly 25 minutes along the Highway 20 corridor and improve wildfire protection across the 55-square-mile district, which is more than 90 percent timberland.

Operations are slated to begin in early May, with a full public opening set for July 4.