Dashwood Fire Hall Replacement Project

At the September 15, 2020 Regional District of Nanaimo Board of Directors meeting, the Board passed a motion to enter into a contract with Praxis Architecture Company for detailed drawing plans for the fire hall layout, engineered plans for the electrical, mechanical, structural and civil that meet current building code requirements.

In light of the economic impact of COVID-19 and in discussion with the Dashwood Fire Department Society and Dashwood Fire Chief, the RDN is placing the construction of the Dashwood fire hall on hold and will re-assess in September 2020.

The Dashwood Fire Hall replacement project was approved through an Alternative Approval Process (AAP) that concluded on Friday, July 26, 2019. The AAP addressed two bylaws, the "Dashwood Fire Hall Service Area Establishment Bylaw No. 1785, 2019" and " Dashwood Fire Hall Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 1789, 2019". The first bylaw establishes a fire protection service area within Electoral Areas F, G, and H and the second authorizes the borrowing of up to $4,000,000 (Four Million Dollars) to be repaid within 25 years in order to finance the fire hall replacement.

In accordance with Section 86 of the Community Charter, approval by AAP was obtained for this project when less than 10% of electors within the service area submitted an elector response form by the July 26, 2019 response deadline. Of an estimated 1,751 electors, 9 eligible response forms were received.

The complete News Release is available here.

The RDN has received approval from the Inspector of Municipalities to proceed with the Alternative Approval Process to borrow for the replacement of the Dashwood Fire Department main fire hall.

We have provided an elector information tool to identify properties within the Dashwood Fire Hall Service Area Establishment Bylaw. Select the search tool application below and search by a civic address to identify if your property is within the eligible area.

Search Tool Application

The notice of Alternative Approval Process and Elector Response Forms with complete instructions can be obtained on the RDN website at www.rdn.bc.ca/alternative-approval-process-bylaw-1785-bylaw-1789 and at the Administration Office of the Regional District of Nanaimo located at 6300 Hammond Bay Road, Nanaimo, BC, V9T 6N2, Phone 250-390-4111 or toll free 1-877-607-4111, from June 13, 2019 to July 26, 2019 during regular office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8:30 am - 4:30pm; and Wednesday from 8:30 am - 5:30 pm, excluding statutory holidays.

The Dashwood Volunteer Fire Department and the RDN will be hosting two Informational Open Houses on June 15, 2019 from 09:00-12:00pm and on July 20, 2019 from 1:00-4:00pm at the Dashwood main fire hall at 230 Hobbs Rd, please drop by to see the conceptual plans for the new hall and speak with the fire department members and the RDN.

On April 23, 2019 the Regional District of Nanaimo Board approved initiating an alternative approval process in order to obtain elector approval to establish a service and loan authorization bylaw to borrow for the replacement of the Dashwood Fire Department main fire hall.

What happens now?

The bylaws are sent to the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development and are reviewed by staff before they are forwarded for an approval decision by the Inspector of Municipalities for the borrowing of funds . Processing time averages between six and eight weeks. Once approved, the RDN will commence the alternative approval process (AAP). Information on the AAP for local governments can be found here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/governance-powers/consent-approval-electors/approval-of-the-electors/alternative-approval-process .

Stay tuned for more details and check out the key dates section for the upcoming open houses in June and July.

Disasters can happen at anytime. Having a resilient facility that can withstand a disaster ensures that the Dashwood Volunteer Fire Department members can respond to emergencies under the most trying circumstances.

Recent significant events responded to by the Dashwood Volunteer Fire Department include:

• a landslide that completely destroyed a home trapping an occupant side
• a wind storm that spread across the region causing trees to topple over roads, homes and power lines
• a rainfall event that caused the Little Qualicum River to breach its banks

These significant events are in addition to the fires and mutual aid calls handled every year by the Dashwood Volunteer Fire Department. Help support your volunteers with a fire hall that provides adequate space and meets seismic standards.

The Dashwood Fire Department and the RDN collaborated with neighbouring Fire Departments to initiate the standardization of fire halls project. This project aimed to design main fire hall and smaller satellite fire hall conceptual plans that would be used for future fire hall replacements.

The new conceptual plans were completed and the Dashwood Fire Department will be the first to implement the design. The new hall will be built to meet current building and seismic standards. It will provide an improved layout and use of space for training and maintaining equipment. The functional layout includes:

• two drive through bays that can hold four pieces of apparatus
• a public entrance with an administration area
• separate areas for radio communications, IT, mechanical, electrical, sprinklers, gear, storage, training, offices and laundry which are all non existent in the current fire station
• two multi use washrooms and gear/equipment decontamination areas
• a workshop
• a self contained breathing apparatus refill/drying room (SCBA) and compressor room

Volunteer health and wellness is paramount and the new hall will meet WCB requirements for gear storage, cleaning and for members to decontaminate and decontaminate equipment as part of efforts to reduce the risk of job related cancers.

Want to know more about the Dashwood Fire Department and Hall? Here is a little bit of history on where it all began.

The Dashwood Fire Department was established in 1984 by a group of citizens concerned about the lack of fire protection in the area, with 20 members. The original two bay fire hall was constructed in 1985 and held two pieces of apparatus. A third bay was built onto the side in 1996 providing space for an additional piece of apparatus. In 1997 the department replaced its aging 1977 water tender with a new 1997 GMC top kick (water tender) which is still in service today.

As demand for the expansion of the Dashwood fire protection service area grew, a petition for a second hall in the Meadowood area was sent to residents. In 2007 the Meadowood community voted YES to allow the borrowing for the new fire hall, new apparatus and new equipment to provide fire protection to the community. Local residents provided space in their garages to store the apparatus and equipment until the construction of the hall was completed in 2009.