CHERRY GROVE - In a landmark decision aimed at helping community safety and emergency response capabilities, the MD of Bonnyville has given the green light for the construction of the Cherry Grove Fire Hall.
The location of the fire hall will be Range Road 412 at the intersection of Highway 55.
Owned by the M.D. of Bonnyville, the selected property not only serves as an optimal site for the fire hall but also incorporates measures to mitigate potential impacts on the surrounding community, according to information from the MD of Bonnyville.
The site will allow for the fire hall to be set back from the road and use the existing trees as a buffer to reduce noise pollution for neighbouring residents, according to the MD of Bonnyviille.
The notion of constructing a fire hall in the area came to the forefront in 2023 following the loss of a church in Cherry Grove.
Shedding light on the circumstances, Bonnyville Coun. Ben Fadeyiw elaborated. “We had an unfortunate event happen, where we had a church burn down in Cherry Grove and it was an opportune time for me to ask council to have that service in that area, so currently any kind of fire calls are brought in from the City of Cold Lake.”
RELATED STORY – Cherry Grove church destroyed by early morning fire
Fadeyiw added, “The people in the community have been asking one for probably eight years or so. We could never make budget as it is a big dollar amount, and we had a little bit of surplus that was in our swimming pool budget, so we grabbed the money from there.”
The fire hall is set to be more than just a facility for firefighters, but it will also house MD of Bonnyville machinery. Offering a glimpse into the construction plans, Reeve Barry Kalinski explained, “We’re not only putting a firehall there, but we’re going to put a grader shop there as well. It will be a dual-purpose kind of building.”
The reeve added, "It’s probably going to have bays for a firetruck and a tanker and then it will probably have another two bays for a plow truck or a grader, it will probably be similar to the one in Ardmore or the one in Lacorey."
Highlighting the importance of this new facility, Kalinski said the eastern area of the MD of Bonnyville where Cherry Grove is located has never had any kind of fire hall before.
As the firehall is the first of its kind in Cherry Grove, the construction of a fire hall will be meaningful for community members who want to get involved in firefighting.
"When the church went on fire, we had all these community members who are just sitting there with their hands tied watching a church burn down. The sense of helplessness was just awful,” said Fadeyiw.
The area councillor anticipates the fire hall construction to begin as early as next week.
“We’re hoping it’s all finished by spring of 2025,” he noted.
