Long-awaited shelter now a reality

Comanche Fire Chief Scooter Bivins had been patiently waiting for an opportunity to get an onsite storm shelter for his department and other city employees.

“When I was a fireman in Walters, we didn’t have a storm shelter over there either,” Bivins said. “Every time the storm chances came in and we had to set the sirens off, we were just sitting ducks in a metal building and it didn’t feel very good.”

A few years ago, Bivins started doing some research for grants.

“I thought this was something maybe I could do, get a grant or whatever,” Bivins said. “I’ve heard firemen voice their concerns about ‘Hey, what are we supposed to do if a tornado is impending on the city?’ And really, all I could do was tell them that was for them to take care of themselves. I didn’t want to be responsible for their life by telling them to sit here and not take shelter.”

The problem was if a call came in to dispatch, there would be no one to answer. A 911 call would go to the county dispatch regardless, but firefighters would possibly be further away if they had to leave City Hall beforehand for their own safety.

“We finally got one put in behind the fire station at Walters,” Bivins said. “I talked to the Chickasaw Nation and asked them about assisting us in funding a storm shelter. After a few weeks, I got an email back that asked if we were willing to put anything with it. I told her that we could probably put about $4,000 with it.”

After another week or so of waiting, Bivins received an email stating the Chickasaw Nation would put $6,000 toward it.

At the August City Council meeting, council members had approved the building of the shelter and the city’s portion of the funding. 

“I was going to pay for it out of our funds, but the city ended up paying for it out of capital improvement funds since it was going here on city property,” Bivins said.

It took a week for the six foot by eight foot shelter to be built. It can fit six people comfortably and as many as 12 in a pinch. There are plans to include benches.

“We really don’t want to advertise it as a public shelter because it’s not,” Bivins said. “There is a shelter over at the school that would be opened up for the public.”