FORT KENT – Around 400 community members from Fort Kent and the surrounding area rolled through the long-awaited Station 7 Fort Kent Fire Hall grand opening between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday.
While Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA) members and volunteers began moving into the facility late last year, the weekend event was the first chance the public got an inside look at the community’s new fire hall.
The opening of the fire hall was a true milestone after numerous delays related to construction prevented the completion of the facility, which was initially anticipated to be opened in the fall of 2019.
After many missed deadlines, the MD of Bonnyville released a statement in October confirming the municipality would be taking over the remaining construction work at both the Fort Kent Fire Hall and the Ardmore Fire Hall and grader shop.
By mid-December, Fort Kent volunteer firefighters finally got the chance to see the new facility they would now be training and operating in.
Station 7’s brand new fire hall sits just across the street from the former and significantly smaller fire hall that was built in the early 80s.
“At its inception, the fire department in Fort Kent operated out of a single bay garage with a washroom and an 8 ft. by 8 ft. office. They were dispatched by activating a siren on a pole beside the fire hall, which went off when someone called a seven-digit phone number,” Deputy Mayor Brian McEvoy for the Town of Bonnyville, told those in attendance for the fire hall's grand opening.
McEvoy, who helped establish the BRFA in 1996 and retired from the role as the BRFA’s regional fire chief in December of 2018, has an intimate understanding of the challenges that local fighters faced over the years and throughout the region.
“They had to park the truck outside during their meetings or hold meetings in the community hall,” he continued.”
“Over the years things have changed here. It was through the dedication of volunteers that funds were raised, and labour donated that saw the addition of a large training room added to the single bay fire station to allow for better training and the operation of the station.”
For the last 26 years, the Fort Kent fire department has been folded into Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority along with 12 fire departments, which was established through a joint partnership between the MD and Town of Bonnyville.
At its inception, the BRFA stations worked together to cover 18,500 sq/km. until the creation of Lac La Biche County, McEvoy explained. At which point the BRFA reduced its operations to eight response stations that continued to provide “boundaryless protection” for the 6,500 sq/km of the Bonnyville region.
As equipment was upgraded, McEvoy said it became obvious that the old station had been outgrown and that attention and planning was needed to begin modernizing the Fort Kent station to meet the needs of the community and volunteers for the next 50 years.
The decision to build a new station large enough to meet current and future needs was made by the MD council in 2017, in conjunction with the board of the BRFA.
“The past five years of planning, project managing, and hard work have got us to this point today that we are celebrating the beginning of the next 50 years of service for the Fort Kent Fire Department and the Bonnyville regional Fire Authority as they move into this new facility.”
A service to be proud of
Dan Heney, the current regional fire chief with BRFA, followed by expressing how challenging logistics can be to build a flagship facility such as a fire hall.
It takes cooperation and commitment from all levels, he said, adding that he hopes that the new fire hall will be an “icon building for Fort Kent.”
The regional fire chief also spoke about the exceptional work that is being carried out by the volunteer members who risk their lives to help not only their own community, but all of the surrounding municipalities near and far who rely on their support in times of crises.
“We provide services that we can be proud of,” said Heney.
Last year alone, Fort Kent’s volunteer firefighters responded to six structure fires, 24 motor vehicle collisions, three vehicle fires, 15 wildfires, 17 medical assists and collectively dedicated 1,135 hours to emergency response, training and public education.
“As the community continues to grow, so do the training and response needs of the firefighters, apparatus and fire halls,” said the Regional Deputy Fire Chief Alicia Krawchuk, concluding the ceremony.
“This new fire hall that we are celebrating today will provide the needs of today’s challenges in preparing for and responding to emergencies.”
Restoring history and building a future
With 11 years of experience working with the BRFA under his belt, Station 7 Fire Chief Cordell Ackert says there is so much history about Fort Kent’s fire department that remains unknown.
Ackert started volunteering over a decade ago because he already had his class 1 licence and knew he could help by driving the station’s pumper truck. Over the years, his passion for volunteering with the fire department grew and now he is leading the charge at the Fort Kent Fire Hall.
Comfortably situated in their new facility, attention will be shifted towards recruiting new members and paying tribute to those who have come before.
“Our best guess is that Fort Kent’s first fire hall started operating in 1962,” he said.
“Fire departments are very honour and pride driven. You have to honour those who came before you to remember where you came from and to move forward with that sense of community. It’s a situation where you can’t stay stagnate – things are always evolving.”
As a side project, Ackert and some of the other Fort Kent volunteers will start compiling records related to the history of the Fort Kent fire department and seek out some of its previous fire chiefs and members.
“It can be frustrating when we have new recruits and they ask us about the first fire hall and the history and we just don’t know,” Ackert said. “So, if anybody knows anything about our fire hall, they can come talk to me.”
Station 7 currently has 14 members from Fort Kent and the surrounding areas. However, Ackert hopes to grow this number to 20 volunteers. The goal is to share the load between more people.
“The biggest thing we are facing is burnout,” acknowledged Ackert. “We do face some tough stuff.”
Although there are challenging things that a firefighter may experience while at an event, Ackert stresses that joining the BRFA is like joining a second family. Despite the situations firefighters may face, there is an entire team of members who are there to offer support.
“The BRFA also has an evolving mental health program, and with restrictions lifting we are able to have more in-person classes to address the stresses that can be caused by being a first responder,” he said.
“At the end of the day people do this work because of the fulfilled feeling you get when you know you have helped your community,” Ackert said.
Anyone interested in joining the BRFA as a volunteer firefighter can find the contact information of their nearest station’s fire chief by heading to www.brfa.ca/recruiting/
