North Perth’s firefighters have finally moved to their new home on Wallace Avenue South, and according to Chief Ed Smith, it was worth the wait.
Smith took The Banner for a tour of the new fire station, unveiling all the improvements of the $1.6 million facility. As Smith pointed out, the biggest difference between the old and new fire hall is size.
“We sure outgrew the other facility we had, we needed to update a lot of things and this did that for us,” Smith said. “I couldn’t believe how much stuff we had in that little building.”
All the added space at the new hall has been put to good use, with an expanded dispatch centre, an office for the district chief, and a new training room for the firefighters.
“Our room was crowded when you had 20 firefighters sitting in it,” Smith said. “Now that room is capable of handling up to 50 people.”
Another feature that wasn’t part of the old fire hall is a dedicated exercise room. The room looks a little bare at the moment, though, as Smith says it’s up to the firefighters association to purchase any fitness machines that will be held there. Smith said such fitness rooms are becoming more and more common in modern fire halls, as exercise is integral for firefighters to maintain their physical health.
“It has been found it works much better when they can go to a place and do it rather than go to a gym,” he said. “They’re in their own element when they’re here.”
The building also includes a conference room with audio and visual capabilities and a full kitchen. Smith said the whole building was designed with the future in mind, and would be able to make a transition to housing a crew of full-time firefighters if that decision was ever made in the future.
“The building couldn’t just be built for today’s needs, we had to look into the future, which is a difficult thing to do,” Smith said.
Moving out to the truck bay area, Smith explains a number of other improvements in the new hall for the firefighters’ equipment. Individual lockers now hold each firefighter’s gear, making it easier to store and care for each set, Smith said.
“It keeps the gear open to the air and helps it last longer, it gets the dampness out and prevents mildew,” he said.
The smell of lingering smoke in the gear has also been addressed, with ventilators pumping through the building and bringing fresh air to the locker room.
“We’re able to take that air out and try to eliminate that problem,” Smith said.
Among the rooms upstairs is the new location of the fire hall’s communication equipment, which was previously kept in the municipal water tower. With the communications tower now on site, Smith said it’s much more convenient.
“It’s easier to make repairs when they’re needed and there’s no issues with the elements,” he said.
For one firefighter, it’s not the first new hall he’s seen in Listowel. Wayne Young has been a firefighter for over 40 years and started at the old fire hall when it was just a year old. Now at the new station, he has a few sentimental feelings for the old hall but knows the move comes with a lot of improvements.
“It’s kind of hard leaving the old hall,” he said. “It’s nice here and there’s a lot more room, it’s what we were needing.”
The grand opening of the North Perth fire station will be held on Sept. 11, at 10 a.m. The fire hall’s new address is 620 Wallace Ave. S. and can be reached at 519-291-6825.