Summerside unveils plans for a new $11-million fire station
Station will include enhanced training space and decontamination area
The City of Summerside is finally moving forward with a new $11-million fire station that will include more space for trucks and training, as well as enhanced safety features for firefighters.
The complex will be located on Central Street adjacent to Leger Park. It will replace Summerside Station 1, which was built in 1962.
Construction is expected to take about 18 months. The project is set to go to tender in fall 2025 with construction beginning in 2026.
Justin Doiron, a city councillor who is also a firefighter, said plans for a new hall were being discussed before he joined council back in 2018, so he's happy to see it get the go-ahead.
"It's nice to be able to go from, you know, the rumour stage — there's lots of rumours and coffee-shop talk… It's great as a firefighter to be a member of that team, to finally see it coming to life."
Room for 4 trucks
The new bay will accommodate four fire trucks, compared to two at Station 2 in St. Eleanor's, and will include a decontamination bay for trucks, improved access to showers and a fitness facility.
Doiron said it's important for firefighters to clean themselves and their gear properly after putting out a fire. For many years, he said, firefighters would go to the call, deal with the fire, get dressed in their street clothes and go home without much thought of the "junk in the things that burn in people's homes" — junk like carcinogens.
"All that stuff, it gets on your gear, it gets on your skin, gets on our trucks.
"So to be able to decontaminate that — it's not only important to keep everything in good working order, make it last, but when we get home and to know that those poisons are no longer in the air, that's a big deal, because that's just one last thing that our family has to worry about."
The new station will also have overnight accommodations as well as enhanced on-site training areas. Previously, firefighters would have to find an empty parking lot or parcel of land to practise ladder rappelling, hose deployment and other functions.
The city was looking at three different locations for the new fire hall, including the site of the old trade school on Ryan Street.
The parcel of land off Central Street was picked in part because it was already owned by the city.
Fire Chief Ron Enman said the location will allow for quicker responses.
"With the east-west connector, that's really going to open things up. So when you look at the map, we have a map with pins … showing where the members live, and the access is going to be pretty quick."
With files from Tony Davis