Two months after Whitney firefighters were supposed to be moved in to the new complex they’ll share with EMS, and they’re still in their old fire hall in Porcupine.
Deputy Timmins Fire Chief Ellard Beaven says they’ll move in once showers are installed in the new building on the Northern College campus.
“There wasn’t any in the original plan, so obviously we had to ensure that there was a proper area for them to clean themselves after working fires,” Beaven explains. “So we wanted this complete before we put them in the new building.”
“I didn’t want to have them in there and then if they did have a major working fire where they needed to decontaminate” he continues, “then they’d have to jump in the trucks again, all dirty, go back to their old station to shower and come back. So you’re cross-contaminating. I just didn’t want that exposure.”
The firefighters are meeting and training at the new complex. They expected to move in at the beginning of the year, but Beaven now estimates that will be complete by the middle of April.