After covering it in their 2015 budget, the MD of Greenview has approved a construction contract for new fire halls in both Grovedale and Debolt.
Reeve Dale Gervais says the fire departments in those communities have outgrown their existing halls.
“Our Fire Departments are extremely busy. In Grovedale they had right around 200 calls last year. The vast majority of them are motor vehicle accidents, that sort of thing. The traffic on Highway 40, that seems to be the main source of the call outs.”
The Grovedale Fire Department handles from the Wapiti River all the way south to the Kawka River, including about 100 kilometers of Highway 40.
As well, Gervais says the new fire halls will mean more than just extra space.
“They are going to be larger to allow for more training space, more office space, they’re also being rigged up for an emergency control centre in the event of an ice storm or something like that, where power goes out. There will be an emergency control centre in the case of any natural disaster.”
The Debolt station serves an area about half the size of Grovedale’s, but it includes a stretch of Highway 736, and about 50 kilometers of Highway 43 between the Smoky River and Young’s Point.
“The MD takes providing these services seriously, and that’s why we’re going to spend $14 Million on these two fire halls. And beyond that, it’s also to support our volunteer firemen, to give them the best equipment that we can.”
The MD budgeted $6.4 Million for the construction of the Debolt hall, and another $6.3 Million for the one in Grovedale.
