With an eye to the future, the Oak Bay Fire Department has ordered a new ladder truck that’s too large to fit in its firehall.
Along with that, a new fire engine is also on order that will fit in only one of the station’s bays.
The aging firehall on Monterey Avenue was built in 1938 and had two bays added in the 1960s. It is nearing the end of its useful life. Four bays are currently in use and a fifth has been converted into office space.
The dimensions of the hall do not meet the size specifications of the majority of fire-vehicle manufacturers in North America, Fire Chief Frank Macdonald said. Times have changed, and Macdonald said that the District of Oak Bay is looking at constructing a new public-safety building to house both fire and police services.
Oak Bay has budgeted about $36 million for the building.
“Public-safety buildings, depending on the scope of them, have been very expensive of late,” Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch said.
He said it has not been determined if the new public-service building will be at the present location or somewhere else. Either way, Murdoch said the existing hall is a heritage building and he anticipates it will be kept.
Its size has been an issue for some time, he said.
No design details have been produced for the new building and there has not yet been any community consultation, Macdonald said.
The department’s current ladder truck has been in use for 20 years and the engine being replaced has had 30 years of service, he said. The new ladder truck will have a 105-foot ladder, compared with the 68-foot ladder the department has now, he said.
“So there’s much greater reach, a much bigger truck.”
Replacing vehicles is carefully managed, he said.
“From a capital-management plan, you want to try and sequence the replacement of your trucks so they’re replaced mid-life,” Macdonald said. “We’re trying to balance a fleet replacement so that we’re optimizing the replacement schedule.”
The entire fleet consists of two engines, a ladder truck and a command vehicle.
A separate structure to house the new ladder truck will be built in the parking lot that serves both the fire department and the adjoining police department, he said.
“It’s a purpose-built structure that comes with roll-up doors and exhaust-extraction systems,” Macdonald said. “It has to meet industry requirements.”
Security is also important, since the new ladder truck costs about $2 million, he said. The new engine costs about $1.3 million.
Both should arrive around January.
One important feature of the incoming engine is its auxiliary power unit that will allow the truck to idle with an electric battery for up to 45 minutes, Macdonald said.
“That’s a huge impact as far as reduction in carbon production and just noise pollution,” he said. “When our trucks are at a scene in the middle of the night it’s really impactful on the community if the engine’s running on its primary [power] and has got its lights going.”
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