The province announced a huge infrastructure cash injection that will see a new Forest Fire Management Centre build up at the North Bay Airport this spring.
The 9.5 million dollar facility will be the new home for seven fire ranger crews and practical space for two water bombers, two bird dog planes and two helicopters.
The announcement came at the old Jack Garland Airport terminal this afternoon.
The 1,149 square meter facility will replace the aging MNR building located on Trout Lake.
"The new headquarters in North Bay will provide modern facilities and equipment to assist our highly trained fire rangers in protecting people and important forest resources." said Bill Mauro, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.
North Bay Mayor Al McDonald says the city and the province have been working on this since 2013 and without the upgrade there was concern that jobs could have moved MNRF firefighting jobs and resources elsewhere.
“We’ve got about 20 million dollars within our park in the past three and half years so we are thrilled that this will spur on additional development,” said McDonald.
The Natural Resources Minister stated that the new facility will not bring any more full-time MNRF jobs along with it.
The announcement came at the old Jack Garland Airport location this afternoon. Officials expect the ground breaking to take place as early as this April.
As for the old MNRF building, Mauro says Infrastructure Ontario is currently evaluating what they will do with the old facility in the future.
