Lake Oswego fire station rebuild leadership update – February 2026

Submitted by Chris Durkee, Director –

South Shore Fire Station – Update
February 2026

Response Times

There are 4 components of “response time”:

Driving time – to location of incident Clackamas County’s standard is 90% of our calls must be met with response times of 8 minutes or less. If Lake Oswego fails to meet this standard, we could loose critical funding from the county. Our Fire Department’s response time performance is commendable:

👨‍🚒 On critical /high-acuity calls, response times average 5.5 to 6 minutes

So – what benefit do residents gain from this?

Cardiac Arrest: response time is a key factor in cardiac arrest survival. Lake Oswego’s survival rate is twice the national average!

Structure Fire: If a house fire burns for more than 8 minutes before 1 st responders
arrive flashover can occur and it’s likely that property destruction will exceed 50% along
with reduced chances of occupant survival.

Our Fire Department’s remarkable response time record is only possible when we have all 4 fire stations in operation – 2 on the north side of the lake and RR track, and 2 on the south side of the lake and RR track. It takes all 4 stations operating in concert – on calls or on “backfill”.

In a major earthquake, the South Shore Fire Station would likely be incapacitated – severely impacting response times city-wide.

The City Council agrees that the South Shore Fire Station replacement project should proceed with conceptual design and final pricing leading to a bond on the May ballot.

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: durkeechrisatyahoo.com.