After many years working in cramped quarters, the Municipality of Powassan Volunteer Fire Department now has a state of the art, brand new 8,000 square foot fire hall.
“We tendered it out and the tender came in at $1.3 million and I’m happy to say that we’re actually a little under budget and we’re definitely on time, if not early. I can’t say enough good things about our builder,” said Mayor Peter McIsaac.
“Our former building was part of the municipal office. The fire hall had many problems. First of all, it wasn’t big enough. You had to actually fold the mirrors in on all the trucks before you could even back them into the existing garage,” said McIsaac.
“We didn’t have enough room for all our trucks, and there were security issues. Somebody actually took one of our trucks one day for a ride. So, with that accompanied by a few other issues, we put a plan into action, and now we have a new fire hall as we work towards building a better community.”
McIsaac says part of selecting the location behind 250 Clark Street, was the quick and easy access to the rest of the community.
“When we originally looked at the community buying this location, the fire hall was one of the big reasons. We needed a new fire hall, it’s central to the community, it’s central to where all the volunteers live, so the turnout time is short. It’s a great place to be to service the whole community.”
Fire Chief Bill Cox proudly shows off the new facility which has room for future expansion if needed.
“After many, many years of not having a dedicated fire hall just for the volunteer firefighters of Powassan, we now have one. We’ve always shared a facility with council and other organizations. We never had a place where we could actually hang a picture up on the wall and leave it, and say it was ours,” said Cox.
“Right now we can house six units. We have five right now so there’s room for expansion if we need it. The firefighters, if they want to get into search and rescue, or get four wheelers and start doing trail rescues.They have the facility to store the equipment now, which we never had before. We also have office space and a fantastic radio room that will help us document things better and help us communicate with all of our firefighters and anyone else we need to communicate with.
There is enough space available for additional training for the 39 volunteer firefighters.
“We have three 80 foot drive-through bays that the trucks don’t have to be backed into, they can be driven right through They’re plenty big enough that they can get through without hitting their mirrors. And we have lots of room for expansion if we want to do it, and there’s lots of room for indoor training which is paramount because we have six months of bad weather. There’s also an emergency management room. It’s separate from the community hub, so it’s ideal for that, and a post-disaster building as well.”
The design and cost have caught the attention of other fire departments.
“I think other municipalities are going to look at this. We’ve already had Kirkland Lake down looking at it. They’re looking to build something at some point.”
The former building which housed the fire department on the town’s main street has been sold, and a business has already set up shop.
