Fredericton fire chief makes pitch for new station in fast-growing corner of city

Fredericton's fire chief is making the pitch for a new fire station in the southwestern corner of the city, citing rapid housing development in recent yearsand long-standing challenges with getting to the scene of fires in that area as quickly as inother parts of the city.

For decades, areas around the intersection of Prospect Street and Hanwell Road have been outside the four-minute window that is internationally recognized as the standard for how long it should take the firstfire truck to respond to the scene of a fire, said Chief Dwayne Killingbeck.

Add to that,39 per centgrowth in the area in the past five years and a new fire station is critical for ensuring adequate response times for that part of the city, he said.

"What's important to consider about the southwestcompared to other parts of the city, the southwest has downtown-like conditions where you're seeing these largebuildings that are close together, and has no fire station within the four- or five-minute drive time to that location," said Killingbeck, presentingto the city's public safety committee on Tuesday.

"The rest of the city, especially with the higher density and the downtown, have three or four stations that are able to get to the location in the same amount of time. So that's the key point to this."

Killingbeck's presentation focused on an analysis his department carried out that looked at response times to incidents if a new fire station were built.

The National Fire Protection Association is an international non-profit thatsets standards for professional fire departments to follow. It sets abenchmark of four minutes between a department getting dispatched and the first fire truck arriving on scene.

Killingbeck said about 56 per cent of the time, Fredericton firefighters are able to respondto incidents across the citywithin four minutes. If a fifth station were built near Prospect Street and Hanwell Road, the rate at which firefighters responded within four minutes would rise to 73 per cent.

He said the city could opt to not change anything, it could move the York Street Fire Station to Waggoners Lane, or it could build a new fire station near the intersection of Prospect Street and Hanwell Road.

WATCH | Growth in city's southwestern corner spurs push for new fire station:

Fire chief makes pitch for new station

6 days ago

Duration 2:08

Fredericton Fire Chief Dwayne Killingbeck is appealing to city council to move forward with plans to build a new fire station in the southwestern corner of the city, which has seen rapid growth recently in new apartment buildings and townhouses.

Killingbeck said given recent population growth in the city, the first two options would keep the overall level of service below where it should be for the entire city. Herecommended councillors on the public safety committee support the third option.

It would cost about$11 million to build and equip the new fire station, and require about 20 new firefighters, at an annual operating cost of about $3.1 million.

Committee supports proposal

The need for a new fire station in the southwestern corner of Fredericton was something Coun. Ruth Breenbecame aware of while campaigning to represent residents in Ward 9 back in 2021.

With a rapid increase in new housing developments in recent years, she said the need for a new station has only become more apparent to her.

"It's a need, it's a really important need," she said. "It provides an equity of service across the city, so [I'm] very happy to see this moving forward."

Ward 3 Coun. Bruce Grandy said the city has pursued big capital projects in recent years, such as a new performing arts centre and renovations to Officers' Square, while at the same time putting off big improvements to its fire department.

"I think it's appropriately time that we start to address this area," Grandy said.

"Coun.Breen talks about growth in her ward and statistics, and Ithink it's just glaring that we have to move forward with something like this."

Public safety committee members voted unanimously to forward the proposal for a fifth fire station to council as a whole for its consideration.

Killingbeck said if work on the station is approved to begin next year, the goal would be to have staff trained, and the station built and equipped to open at the beginning of 2028.