Today he’s taking me on a tour of a surprisingly expansive and modern structure. “This is the main emergency services building. In here we have the Provincial Emergency Preparedness Program and its radio room, the firefighting services, the rescue services and ambulance, and Parks Canada.” The 7,000-square-foot disaster-proof two-storey building also contains an administration office, a meeting and training room, a gear room with ample hanging and storage space, and washrooms. The loading bay is home to a water tender, a rescue truck, a pumper, a rapid response vehicle and a command unit, recently purchased from Pender Island’s fire department.
A Building Plan is Born How a 31-square-kilometre island with around 350 permanent residents and approximately 1,000 more property owners ever acquired such a monument is a story in itself. The old building was too small for the firefighters to even store their gear in, let alone the fire truck, and the auxiliary fire vehicle serving East Point on the southern end of the island didn’t even have a building to park alongside. So, in 2005, heads came together on the Saturna Island Fire Protection Society to try to do the impossible. “The Saturna Island Fire Protection Society funds the training, purchase, repair and maintenance of equipment, buildings and supplies, and sets service policy, plans and budgets. It collects tax funds and reports to the community. Currently there are eight members on the board,” says Sohier, explaining how the SIFPS and the Saturna Island Volunteer Fire Department are aligned. “Every taxpayer on the island is a general member of the society, and can attend the regular meetings and the AGM.”
Together they both form the Saturna Island Volunteer Fire Department. The SIFPS board knew both a larger fire hall on the island’s more populated west side and a secondary shelter for the East Point service was needed, and they had to be acquired without emptying property owners’ pockets. Fortunately, Gulf Islands residents have a long history of pooling their skills and labour to get things done. Without the tax base to supply the services and amenities citizens simply expect in the city, islanders know all about volunteerism. So did SIFPS, drawing on the skills and strengths of all the volunteers while also keeping all islanders aware of what was going on every inch of the way. With considerable input, the board decided a multi-purpose building was the best option, with prepaid leases from Parks Canada and the Southern Gulf Islands Emergency Preparedness Commission providing some of the necessary up-front monies. In addition, a further $80,000 that been earmarked for the ambulance building could now be diverted. The decision to use metal pre-fabricated construction for the buildings at both sites also saved considerable monies while the revenue from the sale of the old fire hall along with the two long-term leases was further enhanced by a whopping $92,000 in community donations. Then it was time to visit the bankers. There’s more to the story, but this article is less about the construction than the happy outcome, a functional, spacious and well-used building that I’ll wager contributes to luring volunteer firefighters and instilling pride in the locals. Suffice to say that true to its promise, the society is paying off that bank loan ahead of schedule, and all this without any government grants. The auxiliary shelter now also houses a fire engine and water tender. (Saturna doesn’t have fire hydrants.)
Fourteen of the 22 volunteers of the Saturna Island Volunteer Fire Department.
Page 44 – AQUA – October/November 2016