Plans to build additional fire stations in Colwood have been dropped by the city in favour of focusing on the existing service delivered from Metchosin Road.
In a report to the city, Colwood Fire Chief Bryan Erwin said a ‘single fire station concept’ is sufficient to meet the needs of the community.
“The piece of land is centrally located … equal distance to every neighbourhood,” said Erwin at a council meeting on Aug. 26.
The fire chief also pointed to Colwood’s auto-aid partnership with neighbouring fire departments in View Royal and Langford, which he said helps with demand for services as they can “lean on” each other and work together.
Two additional fire stations had previously been proposed - one in South Colwood and another in the city centre at Colwood Corners.
Plans for the South Colwood station had moved forward with land at 400 Latoria Rd. earmarked for its location. Whilst plans for the city centre station were not currently being considered as the area borders close to fire services in Langford and View Royal.
The South Colwood station would have required the recruitment of 15 to 20 paid-on-call firefighters.
“With the ongoing challenges experienced around recruitment and retention of paid-on-call firefighters, adequately staffing a second fire hall would be difficult,” said Erwin in his report.
The additional station would also have required the purchase of new apparatus, which would need regular maintenance.
“Satellite stations are challenging to operate logistically,” Erwin told councillors at the meeting.
In agreement, Coun. Dean Jantzen supported the city moving its focus to one fire station for Colwood.
“(It) never ever made sense to me to have another one pencilled in around the corner,” said Jantzen. “This is a move in the right direction.”
But not all councillors were onboard with the decision to drop plans for the additional sites.
Coun. Cynthia Day raised “grave concerns” about the limitation of the current Metchosin Road site, explaining future expansion, even for one more piece of apparatus, could “be potentially a problem”.
“Giving up the idea, the concept, of having multiple fire stations in the future could limit our ability to have more infrastructure in the future,” said Day, adding that stepping away from the South Colwood plans, would mean the land would no longer be reserved for that purpose.
“It took five years to get a slither more land at the (Metchosin Road) site,” she added.
But the fire chief was not concerned about future expansion of the current fire station and said he felt there was “adequate room”.
At the meeting, councillors voted in favour of the motion to develop a new fire department strategic plan that incorporates the continuation of a single fire station response model with 24-hour station staffing.
Coun. Day voted against.
Fire chief Erwin told councillors he hoped to come back in six to eight weeks to council with a short and long-term staffing plan, using a mix of career and paid-on-call firefighters to staff the Metchosin Road station around the clock.
