[Guest post by Kate Buike in Renton, Washington] Before the
horrific fires started on the West Coast of the United States, I began a series
of sketches of my local fire stations. That series has now taken on a new
meaning as a thank you to the brave and selfless firefighters battling these
unprecedented wildfires.
I live in Renton, Washington, a suburb of Seattle with just
over 100,000 people. For a number of reasons, I practice rigorous physical
distancing due to COVID-19. While I continue to sketch on location, I do so
almost exclusively from the safety of my car.
This series started at the end of April when I was driving
around the main section of my suburb looking for something to catch my eye. It
was Fire Station No. 11. It’s a rather uninteresting building – but that’s the
challenge, isn’t it?
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| Fire Station No. 11 |
Next was Station No. 17 and also King County Fire Department
40. It’s another boring building, so I parked off to the side to at least get
an interesting angle.
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| Fire Station No. 17 |
On to Station No. 12 (top of post), in the Highlands neighborhood, north
and up a hill from my home. It was a more interesting building and there was
even a fire engine outside (inset), but too far from the building to fit it
into the composition. I sat in the shade of a tree this time.
I went out sketching earlier in the morning the next day to
avoid the heat. This is Station No. 14. Have you heard of the gaming company,
Wizards of the Coast? This station is nearby.
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| Fire Station No. 14 |
I’m on a roll. Two days later, it was Station No. 16 with a
more interesting design than some of the others and a tall hose-drying tower. A
small shelter in front covers a memorial bench: “In recognition of volunteer
firefighters. King County Fire District 25. 1945-2003.”
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| Fire Station No. 16 |
I completed the series on Sept. 5 with my local station, No.
13. Every time I was out during those weeks, I drove by the station to check
whether the engine was out. And that morning it finally was! Of course, it
drove off. But I followed my axiom, “draw first what’s most likely to move.”
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| Fire Station No. 13 |
I’ve been inside this station when they had an open house
just after construction was finished a few years ago. They told us the massive
gas kitchen stove was made to automatically shut off when the fire alarm went
off! No one wants the fire station to burn down because they left food cooking
on the stove as they rushed off to fight a fire!
The fire truck drove back in just as I was finishing. The
driver called out, “Did you put me in it?” (referring to the sketch). When I
mentioned that to my husband, he said, “You should have said: ‘No, you drove
off!’” I never think of clever comebacks.
Kate Buike is co-administrator for Urban Sketchers Seattle and Urban Sketchers Tacoma.
