Congratulations on the new Neepawa Fire Hall (Sept 27, 2019)

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Friday, September 27, 2019 • Neepawa, Manitoba

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Neepawa celebrates opening of new fire hall

PHOTOS BY EOIN DEVEREUX AND KATE JACKMAN-ATKINSON

On Sept. 19, the Town of Neepawa celebrated the opening of the new fire hall. About 500 people attended the official opening, including over 300 students from HMK. Above: Fire Department chief Yves Guillas (left), Town of Neepawa mayor Blake McCutcheon (centre) and deputy mayor Brian Hedley cut the fire hose, officially opening the hall. Below: The fire department had current and historical equipment on display for the open house.

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Fire Hall history Before the Neepawa Fire Department had trucks, they had horses. Here, a crew of firefighters are seen with their horses and horse drawn fire wagons.

Pictured (L to R): Second from left, Jim Dalton; fourth from left, Andy Mitchell; Art Cowland; seventh from left, Charles Parrott; Bob Christie (driver); tenth from left, Jack Manning; Arthur Hetherington, Alf Heyes and Ed Howard (driver).

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BEAUTIFUL PLAINS ARCHIVES

Pictured (L to R): Art Cowland; fourth from left, Bob Christie (driver); Charles Parrott; seventh from left, Andy Mitchell; Jack Manning, Arthur Hetherington, Jim Dalton, Alf Heyes and Ed Howard (driver).

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Fire Hall history

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BEAUTIFUL PLAINS ARCHIVES

Pictured above (L to R): Second from left, Charlie Parrott; fourth from left, Jim Kjaldgaard; Jack Graham, Norm Carter, Hugo Mackie, Trig Ingalson, Howard Alguire, Gerald Parrott, Bill Henry and Gordon Hall.

Pictured left: A more modern fire hall that was built in 1951 to replace the old one, pictured above.

By Cassandra Wehrhahn Neepawa Banner & Press According to information from the Neepawa Banner & Press archives, the fire hall above is as it appeared in 1950.

Reportedly built in 1881, the building served as Neepawa’s first school until it was moved to 417 First Ave. in 1889, to serve as Neepawa’s first official fire hall. The hall predated the Beautiful Plains County

Court Building by two years.

The vehicle on the left is a 1942 Ford fire truck and the one on the right is beleived to be a late 1930s Dodge truck.

Originally, the hall was prepared for horse drawn fire engines. A new hall was built to replace the previous one in 1952. Today, that fire hall is being used at a declining capacity as the firefighters transition over to the brand new fire hall, which was completed this year.

Congratulations to the

Neepawa Fire Fighters

on the opening of your new Fire Hall

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Fire hall grand opening brings in a crowd

Top left: Fire department mascot Sparky met and posed for pictures with those in attendance.

Top right: Jake Miguel De Leon had a wish come true when he got to ride in the fire truck. He’s pictured here with Neepawa Fire Depar tment member Mike Spiess.

Middle right: Students got the chance to look inside of the trucks on display.

Community gets its first look inside new $2.6 million facility

By Eoin Devereux

Neepawa Banner & Press

Neepawa is a little bit safer today, thanks to the completion of the community’s long-awaited new fire hall. On Thursday, Sept.

19, Town of Neepawa representatives, along with the staff and volunteers with the Neepawa Fire Department hosted the grand opening of the 10,000-square-foot structure. The building, which had a total cost of around $2.6 million, features five bays to accommodate the department’s fire vehicles. As well, it includes expanded space for a boardroom, office, gymnasium and a modernized exhaust system that will allow vehicles to run indoors.

A team effort An estimated 500 people showed up for the opening ceremonies on Thursday afternoon. Town of Neepawa mayor Blake McCutcheon thanked everyone for attending, noting that the unveiling of the new fire hall was truly a special moment for the entire community to share.

He said that this is a facility that will serve the town well for decades to come.

“When the concept was first brought up, we were a town of around 3,600 people and now we have the potential to be a city someday and this fire hall will still be here and still be something that can meet the needs of this thriving community and region,” stated McCutcheon.

“Yes, this was an expensive building and yes, it did seem to take a long time to reach this point, but at the end of the day, we have a pretty magnificent structure here that’s going to carry us forward for a lot of decades.”

During his speech, McCutcheon thanked the administration staff at the town

Bottom right: The antique fire truck, which is part of the Beautiful Plains Mu s eum’s collec tion, reflected in the wheel of the department’s modern rescue truck.

PHOTOS BY EOIN DEVEREUX AND KATE JACKMAN-ATKINSON

Over 300 students from Hazel M Kellington School in Neepawa added to the festive atmosphere during the grand opening of Neepawa’s new fire hall.

office for all the work and research they have done behind the scenes to make this day a reality. He also singled out the manager of operations, Denis Saquet, for his involvement over the last two years to keep the project moving forward. As well, McCutcheon heaped praise upon the former mayors and members of council who were all a part of the process throughout the years.

“It’s really exciting. There were so many people involved throughout the process. This is something that goes back 10, 15, 20 years, when this concept was first underway.

To get here today, is pretty exciting and we’re all very pleased. It’s a great day and we have a great facility.”

New equipment and technology Fire Chief Yves Guillas noted during his statement to the crowd, that he and the rest of the fire crew are very excited to be moving into the new building.

“This day means a lot to us. We can hardly wait. It’s just the idea that we have more room now for training, more room for the vehicles

and more room to look after our equipment. It’s going to be great,” Guillas indicated. “We’re moving up in leaps and bounds. Thermal imaging [technology] and other things, such as the air breathing equipment, that’s a big thing for us. New gear and everything, it’s all here to ensure we’re able to protect this community in times of emergency. It’s perfect.”

To go along with the official opening ceremony, there were also tours of the new facility through the afternoon and early evening.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

It’s estimated that hundreds of additional people participated in those tours over the course of the day.

This new facility is the third fire hall in the community’s history. A building known as Neepawa’s first school was constructed in 1881, but was relocated to 417 First Ave, in 1889 and served as the first official fire hall. In 1951, a new fire hall was constructed at that site and served as the primary location for the Neepawa Fire Department until recently.

The Neepawa Fire Department showcased its new facility and its vehicles on Thursday, Sept. 19.

Agassiz MLA Eileen Clarke (left) presented Neepawa Fire Department chief Yves Guillas with a certificate to mark the hall’s opening.

Jaxson was one of the many kids who attended the open house and got to be “junior fire fighters”.

Students from HMK lined up to have their pictures taken as Sparky, the Neepawa Fire Department’s mascot.

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The call to action

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Pictured left: The Hamilton Hotel, a century-old landmark, went up in flames and was reduced to rubble in Feb. 2004. Firefighters from Minnedosa, Carberry and Gladstone were on the scene to assist the Neepawa department with containment of the blaze.

Due to the cold weather, firefighters took turns dousing the building with water. After over 17 hours, the fire was out and the building completely covered in ice. The building was then torn down.

Pictured above: In 2003, the Neepawa Fire Depar tment responded to a call from a farm south of Neepawa, where a truck had caught fire. The Neepawa crew arrived on the scene and gave the blaze a healthy helping of foam, putting it out.

Thanks to the Neepawa Fire Department for their years of service.

Pleased to take part in the construction of the new

Neepawa Fire Hall

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The call to action

Top left: On May 6, 2007, the Neepawa Fire Department was called out to put out a grass fire burning east of Brown Ave., by the Flats. A controlled burn was carried out the week before, just below where the fire started.

Top right: In the Sept. 22, 1997 edition of the Neepawa Banner, this photo of a garage engulfed in flames appeared on the front page. The building was lost, but the owner said the important thing was that it was over, and no one was hurt.

Left: Five hundred square bales of wheat straw went up in smoke at the Stoney Creek Transport yard, south of Neepawa, on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011.

Pictured here, Neepawa firefighters hose down bales and owner Dave Brydon’s tractor to protect it from the blaze, as it pulled the piles apart.

The bales had to be pulled apart to extinguish the flames faster.

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Congratulations on the completion of the

Neepawa Fire Hall.

We were proud to be part of this project

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Thank you for your service

PHOTO BY EOIN DEVEREUX

Pictured, the members of the Neepawa Fire Department. Far left: Craig Unger, Zack Wollmann, Terry Speiss, Merv Kuharski and John Douglas. Front middle: Rob Filipchuk, Dwayne Gardy and Wiley Speiss. Back middle: Tanner Mann, Mike Strelczik, Mike Speiss (Assistant Deputy Fire Chief), Ronald Santos, Dennis Humney, Mark Zepik, Dave Humney, Aaron Vandenbussche, Tyler Blondeau, Yves Guillas (Fire Chief), Jason Hartle (Deputy Fire Chief) and Glenn Balagulan.

Missing: Tim Speiss, Bodhi Speiss, Derrick McGorman, Luke Moyer, Brad Wilson, Jarred Filipchuk and Orv Grant.