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Fire Hall Advisory Select Committee reviews site options

The Creston Fire Hall Advisory Select Committee has reviewed potential sites for the fire hall.

At their seventh meeting the committee reviewed and discussed potential sites for a new Creston fire hall. Ernie Polsom of FireWise Consulting Ltd. led them through a preliminary analysis of the four sites that are being considered.

Polsom referenced the BC Building Code, which provides the minimum requirements for health, safety and fire protection of buildings and facilities, and represents a partnership of industry practitioners, construction technology and provincial regulators. The code contains specific reference to fire station response times. Facilitator Kerry McArthur says the Creston Fire Department’s requirement is less than ten minutes.

The site discussion continued with Polsom noting that site selection is contingent upon: site size (Creston’s fire hall minimum is two acres), geotechnical factors, costs of land and associated remediation, and other associated factors. McArthur says the Committee is still considering the different options.

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With these factors in mind the ASC made a number of preliminary observations, including:

  • Site 1 (Cedar Street) presents geotechnical issues, including the cost to relocate major utility lines and to remediate existing ground problems. The potential site is split by Cedar Street, and further challenged by a nearby CPR crossing.
  • Site 2 (Cook Street) is adequate for Fire Hall construction, with approved location and geotechnical factors.
  • Site 3 (N.W. Boulevard) creates a (potential) response time of more than ten minutes.
  • Site 4 (Vancouver Street) requires extensive redevelopment (i.e., demolition of an existing foundation), and presents substantial grade differences and limited growth potential. In addition, the site is not functional in the deployment of firefighting vehicles.

Following the discussion the Committee made the following motions.

  • Review/discussion of Fire Hall site selection options is an important topic in it’s own right.
  • Site selection is foundational in the process of building a new Fire Hall.
  • Further review of site selection is forthcoming, with particular focus upon schematic design and geotechnical matters.

The ASC meets again May 9 at 6.30 pm.

 

 

 

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