Written by Peter McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM Tuesday, 28 May 2013 06:00
Vernon council has been asked to consider putting paid firefighters in Okanagan Landing. The request was made by residents of Canadian Lakeview Estates on Tronson Road who say adding two on-duty firefighters per shift at the Landing hall, could knock five minutes off the 14 to 20 minute response time to their area. Mayor Rob Sawatzky says it's too soon to say if that's the best option. "I'd certainly like to see the response (to this) from our fire chief and there will be a report coming to council I'm sure. I wouldn't want to comment on any of that until I knew more of the details on what the response time is." Sawatzky says he can anticipate there would be difficulties from council on adding paid fire fighters in the Landing. CLC residents spokesman Jim Dubois says their area remains at "significant risk" under the current system of using paid-on-call volunteers at the Landing station. Dubois says having two professional firefighters would improve response times to not just their area on Tronson Road, but to the Outback, Bella Vista and others. "As tax paying residents, we want to be adequately protected when a fire or medical emergency occurs. We recognize that it is not a matter of "if" but "when," he told council. Councillor Patrick Nicol says that would mean extra costs, and it's something council will have to debate. "This issue always bubbles under, and it remains to be seen what council does, but at the moment, the policy was not to do that (have paid firefighters at the Landing hall)." The city has also been considering a new volunteer fire hall in the Bella Vista area which has been shelved for the time being, for cost reasons.
2 comments:
Despite KPMG's recommendations to defer, this Council is still committed to spending $600,000 for a new fire hall at Predator Ridge.
Is that also considered "bubbling under"?
Here we go again. A back door attempt to get Unionized firefighters in the OK Landing fire hall at a cost of $800,000 per year.
The residents of the Lakeview Estates have fire hydrants unlike other areas in the OK Landing area.
They are within 8 to 10 Kms of the OK Landing fire hall and response time has never been more than 5 to 7 minutes.
Burnt toast does constitute a fire that sets off the fire alarm.
Perhaps the Lakeview estates residents should purchase land and build their own fire hall.
Land should have been set aside for a fire hall when the Sub division was originally approved
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