New Picton fire and paramedic facility will improve emergency response

By Daniel Taylor

PICTON – After a long wait, the new Prince Edward County Fire Department and Paramedic Service Facility is up and running.

Five years ago Prince Edward County fire chief Scott Manlow approached county council about doing a master fire plan to better understand how the department could respond to emergencies more efficiently.

At that time, the fire station was located on Ross Street in the heart of Picton.

Built in 1872, the fire hall no longer met modern standards for an emergency services centre. The 12,300-square-foot building could not adequately accommodate the fire department’s vehicles, had little office space and was in a poor location for responding to calls due to the congested streets in the area.

All of these issues were factored in and construction plans for the new Picton fire hall were finalized in September 2015.

The new facility is shared by  the fire department and paramedics and is located on 8 McDonald Dr., in the industrial park.

The fire department moved in on July 12, while the paramedics moved in shortly after, on Aug. 15.

“This location is going to allow us to be able to access emergency scenes without a lot of obstructed traffic, compared to when we were downtown,” Manlow said.

“That is a large component of why we selected the location.”

For a fire hall that only has one firefighter on duty at a time, location is vital for efficiency. Many of the firefighters are volunteers who must travel from their homes to the station to pick up their trucks before responding to a call. That means there is a need for an easy route to the fire station.

Apart from the benefit of quicker response times, the station also possesses new features that the old Ross Street station didn’t have.

The new 17,000-square-foot McDonald Street station houses four double bays for the fire service and two for the paramedics. With room for potential staff growth, the facility also has more offices, a large kitchen with new appliances, lounge areas and a meeting room that can hold up to 59 people.

Out of all the new additions, the fire staff is happiest with the meeting room.

“Compared to what we had before, we used to train in a kitchen. Guys would sit on countertops and tables. This is one big plus for us at the station to have,” said Manlow.

Task Force Engineering of Belleville built the station. The operation was on time and on budget, coming in at just over $4 million.

“This station will do us for the next 30 or 40 years.,” Manlow said. “It is positioned on a property that if we have to expand to the east and to the west, we can still do that.”

In terms of getting used to the new facility, Manlow said there have been some minor growing pains, but overall it has been a nice transition for both the fire department and the paramedics.