iN VIDEO: Construction on Lake Country’s new $9M firehall set to begin

Construction is set to start next week on Lake County’s new $9 million firehall.

The land on Okanagan Centre Road East and Jardine Road was purchased in 2008 with the new hall expected to serve the community for at least the next 20 years with room to expand beyond that.

“In designing the facility, it was important to consider a 50-year infrastructure lifespan with the ability to expand the facility to meet future needs and community growth,” Mayor James Baker said in a news release. “The community has seen tremendous growth in recent years and public safety is a primary focus of the Lake Country Fire Department.

"Our paid-on-call firefighters respond to fires, medical emergencies, motor vehicle accidents, ice rescue and marine rescue, in addition to fire safety public education in the schools and at events for the whole community.”

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Along with the four bays there will be plenty of training space.

“The new facility will include a hose drying/training tower as well as natural gas training props so crews can schedule regular hands-on training scenarios with equipment we use frequently in Lake Country,” fire chief Steve Windsor said in the release. “It is very important to have adequate space for multi-jurisdictional response teams when we need their help in our community – as we did in 2017 when we experienced challenges staging the B.C. Wildfire Service, RCMP and neighbouring fire department crews coming to assist."

Construction is set to begin on Aug. 10 and the new firehall is scheduled to open in March 2022.

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