Heather Wright/The Independent

Lambton Shores Fire Chief James Marshall thinks the municipality could save over $400,000 each year on fire vehicles and equipment. But it could come at the cost of reducing the number of fire halls in the area.

And that has some residents very worried.

Marshall presented the fire apparatus capital plan to council’s committee of the whole July 29. He said if the municipality maintains all five stations, in the next 25 years, $25.8 million will need to be invested in trucks and equipment – a cost of about $1 million annually.

But Marshall presented a number of options to reduce those cost. One maintained all five stations, but purchased pumper/tankers and used pickup trucks as rescue vehicles. That would allow the municipality to invest in an elevated platform and a mini-tanker, his report said. 

Lambton Shores could save about $297,000 in equipment costs if it closed the Northville station and turn it into a decontamination and training facility.

Another option would see the municipality buy a pumper/tanker for Arkona in 2026 and then move its old equipment to Thedford and Forest. That would “defer” about $300,000 in investment. 

The final option is the “large scale reimaging of fire station placement and required fleet to service Lambton Shores.” That, his report said, would create Northern, Central and Southern Fire Halls. Marshall’s report says that could save almost $340,000 in equipment costs.

Mayor Doug Cook says the five members of council present at the meeting received the report without making a decision on the options.

The reaction to the report online was heated. “These closures would reduce our community’s emergency response capacity at a time when climate change is increasing the frequency, severity, and unpredictability of fires. Every minute matters in an emergency, and fewer departments mean longer response times—not only for wildfires, but for medical emergencies, structure fires, and other crises. The loss of coverage could have life-threatening consequences for residents,” wrote Karen Fogwill, in a letter to the mayor.

“Suggesting decommissioning the Northville station is deplorable,” said Sydney Riddell online.

 “The response time for incidents at Ipperwash is already too long, and it would take easily two to five more minutes for Thedford or Forest to respond to emergency calls at the beach. When someone is drowning, a cottage is up in flames, or the beach parking lot is on fire again, we do not have the luxury of waiting longer for help to arrive…If this is allowed to happen, the consequences will be dire.”

Cook says he’s heard directly from residents as well. But, he says, the council needs to consider the options. “How much money does the taxpayer want to spend and how much of a burden do we put (on them)…for one service? It is a very important service, but that’s what happens when you’re having to outlay that much cash,” said Cook. He adds; “there’s significant savings,” in the report “any which way council wants to go with it.”

He added the chief addressed the concerns of response time should Northville close saying Thedford’s firefighters “could probably respond within a minute or two of what Northville can to get to the same location. We have more firefighters available in Thetford than we do with Northville.” And he says the Northville firefighters have to get to the hall, which is at a “remote location” before heading out to the fire. 

Cook says council will review the report at its Sept. 9 meeting. While the chief’s report is about fire equipment and trucks, some of the recommendations would change the face of the fire service with halls closing. But the mayor says a decision on some of the report will be needed soon. 

“To move the vehicles around, though, that would have to happen shortly, because I said we are under a time crunch to get a new truck for replacement. So that would have to happen shortly for Northville..within a year would be the timeline because we have equipment that is expired next year…to say we are satisfying the requirements of the NFPA.”