Pioneer Place officials say they are moving ahead with fire safety modifications that will avoid closure of the Vale care home.
A fire sprinkler system and new fire-resistant doors are scheduled to be in place by Jan. 31.
Administrators will use money intended to cover operating costs to pay for the $61,000 project.
The Pioneer Place officials are turning to their own funds after the Malheur County Court surprised them by turning down their recent request for help.
Pioneer officials said they had left an informal meeting with one county commissioner with assurances the money was coming.
The rejection at a Nov. 13 court session was “a slap in the face,” said Corey Crismon, Pioneer Place administrator.
The earlier promise of help came to light during a Nov. 19 meeting of the Pioneer Place board.
Meantime, officials of the Oregon Department of the State Fire Marshal explained in a recent interview with the Enterprise how the fire safety issues were detected.
They emphasized that state fire officials at no time said Pioneer Place would have to close if needed repairs weren’t made.
“We do not shut down buildings,” said Chad Hawkins, assistant chief deputy state fire marshal.
A routine survey in October 2023 determined that Pioneer Place didn’t comply with the modified federal Life Safety Code that took effect in 2016.
Crismon said the facility met all the requirements when remodeling was done in 2003.
The key issue, according to interviews and state records, was that a central wall at Pioneer Place wasn’t properly rated to withstand fire and didn’t extend through the attic. The wall divides the two main operations at Pioneer – the nursing home and the skilled nursing center.
The attic above both sides wasn’t divided as the ground floor was, according to Sean Condon, supervising deputy state fire marshal who oversees the Technical Services Unit.
Condon explained in the event of a fire, flames in the attic could spread unimpeded.
“When you have a fire in an attic, it runs very, very quickly,” he said.
Reconstructing the wall would have cost an estimated $400,000.
“In no way will they be able to build a wall that is necessary,” Condon said. “It’s just not feasible. We know it’s not feasible.”
The state agency typically requires fire safety issues to be addressed within 65 days but allows for extensions. It granted one to Pioneer Place last December after Pioneer Place officials indicated they would have the matter resolved by Jan. 31, 2025.
Crismon said Pioneer Place then worked with officials and architects to find an affordable solution.
They landed on installing a sprinkler system and replacing key doors with ones rated to resist fire for up to two hours.
The project comes as Crismon and his team reported to the board that Pioneer Place is losing money because it doesn’t have enough clients.
A year ago, Crismon and board leaders sought help from Malheur County to cure a backlog of building issues. County Judge Dan Joyce directed them to work with Commissioner Jim Mendiola to set priorities and obtain accurate cost figures.
“We did exactly what Mr. Joyce told us to do,” said Dennis Buttice, board chair who addressed the matter at the recent board meeting.
Three days before appearing before county commissioners, a team from Pioneer Place met with Mendiola that included Crimson, Buttice and John Nalivka, another board member.
Nalivka told the board the meeting ended with the commissioner supported county help, teling the group that “I don’t think there will be any problem.
In a later interview, Crismon said Mendiola told the group that he had talked to Joyce and Commissioner Ron Jacobs about the funding request.
“He said they agreed to help with the fire wall,” Crismon said.
Mendiola confirmed that account, but said he subsequently learned Pioneer Place didn’t qualify for county help and was in line to collect its annual share of property taxes.
“I was kind of unpleasantly surprised myself,” Mendiola said.
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