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Heritage at a crossroads
In their own words
A Tudor heritage building at Colwood’s Capital City Centre will be saved, but relocated. News, Page A3
A new documentary explores the state of homelessness in Greater Victoria. Entertainment, Page A14
Deborah Coburn 250.812.5333 Roy Coburn 250.812.1989
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Friday, March 23, 2012
Private ferries, buses eyed to replace Blue Boats Base can’t budge on cancelling service Erin McCracken News staff
ing an effort to build a permanent training facility. Davidson made the pitch to Langford’s protective services committee earlier this month — if the City provides or buys land, firefighters will fund and build the training stations. “Volunteers love to do projects in the community that give back. Providing a quality training centre will give back to the community in spades,” Davidson told the committee.
With the impending end of CFB Esquimalt’s Blue Boat ferry, base officials are exploring alternatives that could pick up where the service will leave off. Two Greater Victoria companies have approached the base about providing a private user-pay cross-harbour ferry that would carry military and civilian defence personnel between Colwood and Esquimalt. “They have to look at the numbers, the timings, the cost for them to run a vessel and to man the vessel. Basically, from a private enterprise perspective, it would all be about whether the service could generate a profit for them or not,” said navy Capt. Craig Baines, commander of CFB Esquimalt. The Blue Boat service saw a ridership of upwards of 400 people each day through the work week. That has dropped by 35 per cent since mid-January when one of two boats was taken out of service for maintenance. The base commander said he can’t budge on his decision to cancel the service due to declining numbers of civilian personnel, largely due to attrition, who work on auxiliary fleet vessels. Blue Boat operators are needed to operate base tugs and barges, for example, said Baines. “There is zero discretion.” Baines said. “Even stretching (the ferry service) to April 30 is having an impact on our folks because it’s difficult for them to take leave.”
PLEASE SEE: Experience, Page A6
PLEASE SEE: Base, Page A4
Edward Hill/News staff
Lieut. Glenn Cooper watches on as Langford firefighter Jason Brady cuts through a car frame during Thursday night training at Station No. 2 on Happy Valley Road, next to a residential neighbourhood. After years of ad hock training sites around the city, Langford Fire Rescue is ramping up efforts to build a firefighter training facility, away from homes.
Firefighters hunt for a training base Edward Hill News staff
The shrill roar of metal against metal pierces the air as a Langford volunteer firefighter tears into a car with an air chisel. He jackhammers into the trunk, while a nearby colleague pries the jaws of life into a door hinge. The commander shouts instructions over the din of the generator and hum of hydraulic tools. Thursday night training has been a staple of Langford fire-
fighters since 1947, and in this case at Station No. 2 on Happy Valley Road, it is now in the midst of a residential neighbourhood. Tearing apart cars beside someone’s house isn’t ideal, fire officers admit. “We are about seven feet from the residence,” says assistant chief Scott Davidson. “That homeowner is great, but the generators are running, the hydraulics run for two hours. It can be disruptive noise pollution.” Indeed, Station No. 2 is a
noisy wrecking ground. Volunteers smash car windows, slice frames and learn to wrench doors open using leverage from a pulley and chains. “Learning how to open a car door that is smashed in, you’ve got to get the tools into your hands,” added assistant chief Geoff Spriggs. “But we want to be considerate of our neighbours. We need to do this without bothering people.” With noisy but necessary training rubbing up against growing neighbourhoods, Langford Fire Rescue is launch-
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