Blake Ellis/The Independent

Enniskillen council gave its approval for the purchase of a $1.3 million pumper truck, but the issue of the cost sharing agreement with the Town of Petrolia is still a sticking point. 

“They say we have to have a fire department and everybody has got to pay their fair share,” said Enniskillen Township Councillor Wally Van Dun. “I just think we are paying too big of a share.”

The issue was raised at Monday’s Enniskillen Township meeting, as council looked at the Petrolia and North Enniskillen Fire Department’s fire management committee meeting minutes. At the last committee meeting on Nov. 13, there was a recommendation that a tender for a pumper truck at the cost of $1,367,457 to be presented to the Enniskillen Township and Town of Petrolia for approval. There were three quotes considered with this being the lowest. 

The fire committee also recommended going ahead with a phased approach to establishing a decontamination space within the fire hall. 

The proposal, presented by Misener Engineering, calls for a phased in approach. Split into four phases, the fire management committee approved the first two phases of the project completed in 2025 and 2026 at a cost of $62,000. 

The entire project would take four phases to complete, with hopes it will be done by 2028. The $62,000 will be taken from the washroom renovation reserve. 

Administrator-Clerk Christine Poland was looking for approval of the fire committee minutes, which would approve the purchase of the truck and allow for the renovations to begin, as long as the Town of Petrolia makes the same approval. 

In a recorded vote, Van Dun was the only councillor to give a dissenting vote, allowing the motion to pass. 

Before the vote, Van Dun called for the township to have discussions with the Town of Petrolia over the cost sharing agreement for the fire department between the two municipalities. 

The agreement – where Petrolia pays 60 percent of the fire department’s costs and Enniskillen pays 40 percent – was set up 20 years ago. 

“The growth of Petrolia is what is pushing this forward,” said Van Dun, about the purchasing of a new fire truck and the renovations to the fire hall. 

“Based on the calls, yeah, we are paying too much into that fire department,” said Deputy Mayor Judy Krall, who had first raised the issue about lowering Enniskillen’s portion in 2023. 

But Petrolia and North Enniskillen Fire Chief Rick Cousins said the hours needed to put out a fire in the township is four times longer than it would be in Petrolia. 

The fire chief estimates it would take 10 to 12 hours to extinguish a barn fire compared to three hours for a house fire. 

Cousins says council might be surprised if a study is done on how much time it takes to deal with calls in the town versus the township.

“I don’t think it is as low as you say it is,” says Cousins “I just don’t have the data right now to back that up, but we have looked at it before and we were quite surprised.”

Councillor Tim Williams agreed. “In my experience going on that hourly basis, that 60-40 split is pretty tight.”