MEOTA — The ribbon has been cut for the brand-new fire hall that will serve Meota, Metinota and surrounding rural areas.
The grand opening took place Monday, culminating years of effort towards addressing the need for a new and expanded fire hall.
The Meota Fire Department was formerly housed in a two-bay building a few blocks to the south. It was not an ideal situation and Fire Chief Gil Cadrin recalls they would have to move one of the vehicles out of the bays just to hold meetings.
Efforts to replace the facility began 2013. The move was sparked by the decision to acquire a new rapid-response fire truck. It cost roughly $200,000 and was delivered in 2014.
Local officials realized that its pending arrival would mean the existing fire hall would not be large enough to accommodate all the department’s equipment including their existing pumper, a water tanker truck and a first-response command van.
“We knew that if we were getting a new fire truck that we’d need more space,” said John MacDonald, mayor of Meota.
Committees were formed, land was purchased and the planning began in earnest. MacDonald noted many trips were taken to other fire halls including ones in Alberta, and advice was sought on what worked and what didn’t.
Those ideas were brought back to the respective councils for approval.
The new fire hall consists of four bays. There is an office for the fire chief that overlooks the bays, as well as a boardroom, an upstairs area and various other features.
There is a training room upstairs where firefighters can hook up to the Internet for online courses. There is room for first aid training and other activities.
Representatives from Meota, Metinota and the RM of Meota were all in attendance. RM vice-reeve Sherry Jimmy was at the grand opening as was Metinota mayor Glenn Wouters.
The ribbon was cut by Cut Knife-Turtleford MLA Larry Doke, who was project manager for the build. He donated his time to the project. taking no salary and a plaque was presented to him Monday by Wouters in recognition.
The project was funded 60 per cent by the RM, 30 per cent by the Village of Meota and 10 per cent by the Resort Village of Metinota. The building itself cost around half a million. Both the fire hall and the fire truck came in under budget.
“We’re very proud to be able to supply this type of service for the whole area,” said MacDonald.
“We’re very proud of all the equipment. Our volunteer firefighters are very excited about it and are happy to be part of it. So it’s just a continuation of what we already have but it’s updated and hopefully we can continue to upgrade the services as we need to.”
The Meota and District fire department is a 100-percent volunteer firefighting department with 19 members altogether. Each firefighter is equipped with a full suit and equipment and take the upgraded training needed for their duties.
The department is capable of responding to the wide range of fires that can happen including grass and structure fires, as well as responding to accidents and other emergencies that happen in the area.
The grand opening offered a chance for the fire department to show off its equipment. The rapid-response fire engine was given a workout as firefighters suited up, turned on the water from the hose and gave a demonstration of how the unit work. The foam system was also used.
Also on display was the unit’s inflatable water rescue craft, something useful when responding to ice rescue situations. But Fire Chief Gil Cadrin says they’ve used it only once.
He notes it has a dual purpose. In addition to ice water rescues, a slider can be added and the craft can be hitched to the back of a snowmobile so it can transport people across the snow.
Cadrin was very pleased with the larger space for his fire department.
“This is unbelievable, the space that we have,” said Cadrin.
“Now … we can actually work on equipment, we can have a meeting in the office, we can do some training here and then we can go back out there.”
He also likes the fact the building is set up to handle emergency measures in the community.
“As we know Mother Nature is getting a little fickle in her old age,” said Cadrin. “There’s some pretty crazy storms and stuff that are dealt our way.”
Future plans are to equip the building with a generator so “if something did happen with an extended power outage in the winter time, there’s a warm building to come to.”
In addition to the funding from the local municipalities, several donations have been made to the project. Those have included $30,000 from Richardson Pioneer and $41,500 from BATC CDC.
Monday, Shane Moebis with Farm Credit Canada presented Cadrin a cheque for $2,250 to support purchase of material the racks that house the turnout gear for the firefighters.
As well, Cavalier Agrow has donated $8,000 to purchase furniture in the boardroom, the fire chief’s office and elsewhere throughout the fire hall.
