At last week's budget session, Battleford town council agreed it was time to move forward with plans to build a new fire hall.
Battleford's fire chief of 34 years, Larry Gabruch, would like to see construction begin by late 2016. The new building will be designed with future needs in mind, including living quarters to support a blended fire department of full-time and part-time firefighters.
Using the buzzword of “2020-5,000,” said Mayor Derek Mahon, it’s possible Battleford could hit a population of 5,000 by 2020, and the firefighting capital plan has to take that possibility into account.
At 5,000, said Mahon, “it’s a different town, it’s a different world.”
Gabruch agreed, saying, “We have to assume at some point in time there will be firemen living there, responding from there on a 24/7 basis.”
He added, “I'm not suggesting that would occur at 5,000, people, but if we were to take our good fortune we've had the last four or five years and run a linear line, you would see it's not so far down the road as you might think.”
The proposed location for the new fire hall, in the area of the arena, curling rink and Alex Dillabough Centre, represents the epicentre of the community as regards response abilities now and in the future. This bears in mind the fact that expansion can really only go west, considering the constraints of the Battle and North Saskatchewan Rivers, Gabruch pointed out.
It is also best suited for firefighters responding to the fire hall itself, without having to cross the highway before being available to go out on a call, he added.
However, there are concerns about the location as regards access and how traffic would be affected during functions going on at the nearby venues. Town Administrator Sheryl Ballendine said there will have to be some further research on the traffic issue, and Gabruch agreed that, although it is an ideal location from a response perspective, a different site may have to be considered.
Despite the fact that the location cannot yet be nailed down, Mayor Derek Mahon said it’s time to move forward in a more formal way, starting with leaving a $20,000 line item for preliminary planning that wasn’t expended last year in the budget for this year. He agreed with Gabruch’s position that the footprint of the project needs to be determined, especially since the location can’t be confirmed until the size of the building is decided, and that proposals can then be sought.
Gabruch says the department has collected about 75 examples and information on new fire hall construction across Canada and the United States to help with a general understanding of what will be needed in a building that should have a lifetime or 50 years of more.
One of the things the new building will have to accommodate is equipment that will become necessary down the road – such as a ladder truck.
Gabruch pointed out there is already one four-storey residential building in Battleford (River Valley Estates) and another one being built near Tim Hortons on the west side.
The fire chief said he has a ladder truck, used, pencilled in for 2018 in the five-year capital plan, but of course that hinges on whether there’s a place to put it.
Gabruch referred to a close relationship with the North Battleford Fire Department, when it comes to the need for a ladder truck.
The Battleford Fire Department has the full support of their colleagues across the river, and North Battlefords’s chief, Albert Headrick, has reaffirmed that several times, Gabruch told councillors.
Referring to residential buildings with lower level parking, Gabruch said, “Any time you store vehicles inside, it's problematic, to say the least, and sprinklers may not always extinguish that kind of fire.”
He added, “It may contain it, but fire doesn't kill people, smoke does, so it could be a potential problem. The advantage of an aerial is if you need egress or evacuation of a top storey.”
Other equipment purchases in the five-year plan include replacing the command unit, which will be 15 years old in 2017, and replacing the rescue unit, which will be 27 years old in 2019.
In its most recent capital purchase, Battleford is expecting to take delivery of a new truck “in time for the parade.”
Gabruch said, “We collectively look pretty intelligent” for deciding to pay for the chassis of the truck, which is being built in the United States, before the Canadian dollar went down, saving about $23,000. In Canadian dollars, the chassis cost about $230,000.
The engine will be fitted out in Winnipeg, bringing the total to just under a half million dollars. The money to pay for replacing the 25-year-old engine is coming out of reserves.
There are also reserves for a new fire hall, although there's no word yet on what it might cost. However, a new fire hall will not only open up possibilities for the fire department, it could also mean changes for other Town departments as the current fire hall becomes vacant.
Gabruch said they’ve been budgeting about $7,000 per year in maintenance over the last several years and when all the planned repairs and maintenance are completed the building will be current and up to standard.
“It will be a very nice structure for, I am assuming, Parks and Recreation to expand into,” he said.
Council may have other plans, he said, but his department has always seen it as a natural evolution for Parks and Recreation to leave the two-bay building (also a former fire hall) they have now for the four-bay current fire hall building. It could also be a combination of the parks department and works department, he said.
In the last expansion to the fire hall, a bay door that opens to the north was included so that it could be easily assimilated into the works compound and the parks and works shared compound. The offices were painted a few years ago and there is still some work to be done on lighting.
“The building is going to be pretty fresh, mechanicals current, water heater on demand, all that's been over the last 10 years or so,” said Gabruch.
Looking ahead to the new fire hall, Gabruch said, “I always felt, irrespective of where it goes, fire halls are kind of the community's pride, so that structure should have some architectural zing to take it forward the next 50 years.”
You’re only going to build one of these in a generation or two, he said.
