Derek Kilbourn
Sounder News
The Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department will be purchasing a new set of vehicle extrication equipment this coming year, replacing the current set which is almost 30 years old.
Fire Chief Will Sprogis asked the Board to approve the purchase, saying that the monies would come out of the unbudgeted revenue coming from deployment ($25,000), the rental of the old Fire Hall and burn building to Save Our Shores training ($30,000)
The balance of the cost ($25,000) would come out of the Capital Reserve which is designated for equipment purposes, and in which there is already money set aside for vehicle extrication gear.
The department had done demonstrations with two battery operated brans, and had chosen Holmatro as the one to purchase. The new gear is battery operated, and comes with a service agreement with Associated Fire Service (AFS) in Nanaimo – replacement equipment can be delivered to the department within 24 to 48 hours if a piece of equipment goes down.
Trustee Oliver Bussler asked what is happening with the old equipment. Sprogis said AFS has a promo on now, to buy back the old equipment, and hand it back over to the department to keep, which saves the department $40,000.
The equipment is expected to be delivered within four to six weeks, and will come with a full demonstration day for free for the department.
Sprogis said, “we did get to try out the equipment already. Officers were in support of it.”
Trustee David Chorneyko said he would speak against the purchase for two reasons.
One reason he said is that the Board doesn’t know how solvent it will be when it gets to June 2026. “I’m not going to agree to additional capital purposes until we figure out liquidity. That’s incentive to get working on that and working on the metrics.”
The second is he said he thinks the department should prioritize replacing turnout gear, as the current gear is contains materials which are linked to cancer in firefighters. Legislation is being proposed by the province to mandate departments replace any of such gear, but has not been formalized.
Sprogis said both the vehicle extrication gear and turnout replacement is in the long range budget plan.
The turnout gear replacement is getting started this year, with more gear to be replaced each subsequent year. The long range plan had $25,000 a year to be put into capital reserves for extrication equipment. Purchasing it now, said Sprogis, will mean that cost is covered, and will save the department some money as the gear pricing is currently unaffected by tariffs.
Derek Kilbourn photo
Scott Pollard With Associated Fire Services demonstrated the battery powered Holmatro equipment to Gabriola Fire Officers and Fire Board Trustees recently. The Fire Board approved the purchase of the Holmatro equipment, replacing 30-year-old extrication equipment for the GVFD.
Recent Comments