Springside Fire Department is planning to expand their existing fire hall due to the limited space available for equipment. “We are needing additional space for our units and also proper use for our space,” explained fire chief David Sutter. “We need to be able to follow OHS rules and to be able to have our separated areas for personal protective equipment (PPE).” Currently, the department stores three of their five emergency vehicles at the hall, with the remaining trucks being housed off-site at a nearby rural municipality. Sutter said as soon as land became available behind city hall about two years ago, the firefighter fundraising committee started actively fundraising. However, with the group still being far from their fundraising goal of $450,000, some of their own volunteers have chipped in. “We just know the need. We have a firefighter association that does lots of functions and it’s been decided that these functions, that we’ve been raising funds for, are for this project,” Sutter voiced. “That’s a lot of volunteer time that’s been put in. The community has been very supportive, but it’s a slow process, but we continue to do that. On top of that, the majority of our firefighters have actually donated their honorariums as well to the project. The money they would be entitled to has been turned over to the fire hall.” One local business said it is because of the large service area Springside’s fire department covers that they chose to donate $25,000 towards the expansion project. “When the guys came and saw us about this, it really opened our eyes about the expansive area that they cover,” shared Terry Tyson, president of Grain Millers Canada. “We always try to take an approach where we are very active in our communities. Our communities include the areas that we pull employees from, the area we pull oats from, Springside Fire Department covers just as vast swath of area that we consider our community. We really felt like it was a worthwhile project.” Sutter said the new hall will make a difference to the department’s quality of services. “It’s immense,” he expressed. “It (means) having proper training facilities, having proper areas to maintain our vehicles. We have to be able to wash our vehicles, right now in the wintertime we have no place to wash them, it all freezes.” “It’s right adjacent to our current fire hall. We would be able to utilize our current fire hall and the new one all in conjunction with each other,” he explained. As part of their fundraising efforts, the fundraising committee will be hosting various events this winter season including a Firefighter’s Ball on March 29.
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