Still no Word on Willow River Fire Hall Replacement

Tuesday, August 19, 2008 03:56 AM

Willow River , B.C. - The community of Willow River, may be without a fire hall until at least next spring.

Regional District of Fraser Fort George Director for the area, Kevin Dunphy, says they are waiting on the insurance adjustor to advise how much of the loss will be covered by insurance. He says it is doubtful the fire hall had enough insurance to cover the cost of a new fire hall which will likely cost $250 thousand to rebuild.

Time is running out for construction to begin this year. Dunphy says the building committee has yet to make a decision on the design of a new firehall.

“We still want to see what grants might be available” says Dunphy.

The Willow River Volunteer Fire Hall , and all its contents, burned to the ground in June. The Beaverly fire hall has donated one piece of equipment.

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Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 03:56 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on August 19 2008 7:28 AM

Waiting for the adjustor? What caused the fire?

Posted by: jus cuz i can on August 19 2008 8:49 AM

A $250 thousand dollar price tag is pretty high and optimistic (on Director Dunphy's part). The first hall was about the size of a regular car garage and was paid for mostly by donations and grants, not through taxation and cost nowhere near $250 thousand. The department itself is not certified, and if past history is any indication it probably never will be. Area residents haven't been willing to pay higher taxes in order to have a certified department, most feel that what they had was adequate enough. When a department is certified, it has to have up to date equipment which includes a newer truck and all of the firefighter gear among other things. Add that on top of $250 thousand for a building and the price goes through the roof, a price that the area can't really afford. Best of luck to all involved.

Posted by: BC Mary on August 19 2008 4:04 PM

.
I'd like to add a bit to what "jus cuz" has said.

After leaving Prince George, we lived on Pender Island for 18 years where "The New Fire Hall" issue nearly tore the community apart, separated devoted friends, and took months and years to work out a solution to the design problems.

As I recall, it wasn't so much what size or kind of firehall the residents wanted. In fact, that seemed to be of little concern to the authorities.

The big issue was what modern regulations stipulated. And those were the boyz whose approval was essential if provincial grants were involved.

In particular, I recall that the new Fire Hall was required to act as an Emergency Shelter in cases of community disaster. It therefore had to have much more floor space, more storage for blankets, food, etc., than the citizens could have imagined.

It grew to be a subject of fascination, considering that the old firehall had been a terrible old thing with only 3 sides! Easy to see why Pender Island thought it should build a new firehall, but it sure wasn't easy to cope with the fancy-dan visions of perfection required by the authorities.

Good luck to Willow River community. May the community survive the planning process intact!