The Dashwood Fire Hall’s days are numbered, following a decision at council’s committee of the whole meeting last Monday (April 22).
A final decision is yet to be made, but from Fire Chief Jeremy Becker’s presentation, the picture was pretty clear – the department has far outgrown the facility.
myFM took a look inside it’s doors to see how the facility operates, and what needs updating.
Upon first glance, a lack of space is obvious, with four firetrucks crammed into the two door garage.
myFM caught up with Herbert | Photo by B. Shakyaver
That was Deputy Fire Chief Mike Herbert. He says that space has become a premium in many ways, including tight parking within the building as well as outside of it.
On a small residential street, there is a limited amount of space for the firefighter’s vehicles.
In addition, fire services have changed a lot in the 70 years since the hall’s construction – with no separate washroom facilities for women in the fire service, no gear cleaning capacity, and a series of other shortfalls.
Currently, the trucks sit in the bay bumper to bumper | Photo by B. Shakyaver
The station, which was constructed in 1954 to accomodate one truck, has long since been outgrown by the department, with additional bays added in the late 1970’s, and 1980’s that brought the building all the way out to the property lines, and – as Herbert pointed out – trucks haven’t exactly gotten smaller since then.
Although council has yet to make a final decision on the timeline of a replacement, or the scope, Fire Chief Jeremy Becker says that he’s hopeful that the new facility will be able to make up the shortfalls that have long existed in Dashwood.
The proposed site for it’s relocation? An underutilised ball diamond on the edge of town that hasn’t seen regular organized sports in over a decade.
Time will tell what that facility will look like, but one thing is for certain, it’s arrival is long overdue.
Written by: B. Shakyaver
Photo by B. Shakyaver