Annexation means bigger service area for city’s fire department

When the city’s annexation of county land comes in to effect on January 1st, the city will grow by 6,316 hectares, mostly undeveloped rural areas to the northeast and northwest of Grande Prairie’s current borders. That means a bigger service area and more rural settings for the local fire department, but Fire Chief Dan Lemieux says they’re already prepared.
 
“The strategic location of our Westgate Fire Station was partly to be ready for the city’s growth to the west and the northwest, because we always expected there would be growth in that area. Actually, our current staff and equipment will meet our response need.”
 
Lemieux says crews have also been testing their radio communication and learning about rural addressing.
 
“We’ve also been driving these areas just to see what our response times are going to be and making sure that we’re familiar with the areas. We’ve been spending some time just training on providing adequate water supply for those rural areas, so I would say that we’re ready to respond.”
 
They’re short a water tanker for when there’s no hydrants around but the firefighters have an agreement with the County to use theirs if needed.