Since it opened in 1984, Park Fire District Station 34 on Royal Street has been surrounded by continuous development in Silver Lake. The fire district now has a sleek, modern building to match the luxury condos and hotels that surround Deer Valley Resort.
In 1989 Park City Fire District Chief Bob Zanetti started his career at Station 34.
“We’ve had some really, really significant fires up here over the years,” Zanetti said. “This location is primo. There is no better location to serve the people up here.”
The fire district’s administrative control board approved $4 million for the station upgrade in 2021 and taxes didn’t increase to pay for it.
The station had to find a temporary location while the new facility was built. The fire district tapped Salt Lake City-based Wheelhaus to develop tiny homes for firefighters on the Mine Bench to serve as a short-term headquarters. Those homes have since been sold to the city for workforce housing. Zanetti emphasized response times for the station, which primarily serves upper Deer Valley and Empire Canyon, weren’t impacted during construction.
Captain Brandon Moore, who’s assigned to Station 34, said he’s enjoying the new kitchen.
“We’re a family up here,” Moore said. “Everyone can cook for each other, and we can kind of have a place to sit and talk and everything like that. Having this bigger kitchen has actually kind of made a huge difference with the crew dynamics, with kind of how the flow is between shift changes and everything. So it’s been a really good change.”
Other improvements include three bays for trucks, a new workout room, and additional bedrooms for increased staffing. Zanetti also pointed out the fire district’s first-ever pole, a key addition for the station that’s built on less than one acre.
“Some will say they’re out of favor, so to speak, because you want to build a one level fire station and just have everything focused around quick access in response to the bay area," the chief said. "We needed a second means of egress from this building, and we didn’t have any more room.”
The new station was completed in December and staffed five firefighters as of February 2024.
