Dear editor,
I have had questions regarding the new firehall and training centre for some time and would like to echo Mr. Eriksson’s concerns.
There is no doubt an additional response facility is required to serve the growing population and infrastructure in this area of the city, however there are few details provided with regard to how this will all come about.
Separating the cost of building the firehall from the training centre would give us some indication of training costs, and information on what additional manpower and equipment will be required to create an effective emergency response capability has also not been provided.
Perhaps our Fire Chief can enlighten us as to what specific qualifications required to attain the desired firefighter/fire officer levels cannot be provided through the Comox centre and what the anticipated costs for sending those individuals to the Justice Institute would be on an annual basis. Siting an ambulance and crew in the new facility would also seem to be a no-brainer.
I am all for providing our firefighters with the best training and equipment they need to do their jobs effectively and safely but without a proper business case, we should not be comfortable with this proposal as it has been presented thus far.
Don Armstrong
Courtenay