Augusta Township will be getting a revamped fire station in Maitland and a new satellite station in Maynard.
During its last meeting the municipality’s council was presented with two options by the Master Fire Plan Steering Committee. It has been suggested the current station in Maitland be replaced with an eight bay station on the same property or, alternatively, a six bay station on the same property and a two bay satellite station in Maynard. The steering committee, which is mostly made up of firefighters and one consultant, suggested going with the second recommendation.
The steering committee says building a satellite station, along with a main station, would improve response times and make residents of the township eligible for some insurance breaks. They point out that while there are no standards for response times in Ontario, a commonly used benchmark is to have six staff onsite in 14 minutes, 80 percent of the time. The steering committee points out this leaves them only eight minutes to get anywhere in the municipality, after arriving at the main station and donning their gear.
According to the presentation there are a number of problems with the current station including; large leaks in the roof, rust coloured water leaking into the building, the roof holding a water load it is not designed for and cracks forming in the walls that are expanding.
Council voted to go ahead with two stations, the replacement in Maitland and a new satellite station in Maynard. The complete presentation can be found here.
