Fire Hall Replacement Project Site Considerations

August 19, 2025

At the Regular Council Meeting on August 12, 2025, Council directed Staff to prepare a report on the Fire Hall Replacement project citing the implications of relocating the Fire Hall site to 902 2nd Ave. from the previously selected site at 1500 5th Ave.  

At the Special Council Meeting, August 19, 2025, Council will receive the Fire Hall site considerations report.

Should Council direct Staff to change course and construct a Fire Hall at 902 2nd Ave. the implications would be: 

Extending the project timeline. The project is currently scheduled to break ground in spring of 2026 with an operational facility in 2027.  Directing staff to relocate the site would push project completion out to 2028. 

There is an urgent need to build a new Fire Hall in Fernie to allow Fernie Fire and Emergency Services to continue to effectively provide essential fire protection and emergency response services to the community.  The current temporary facility does not meet regulatory requirements and has resulted in increased response times, negatively impacting public safety. 

In addition to delaying a purpose-built Fire Hall in Fernie, changing the site location would put the City at risk for being in continued non-compliance with regulatory requirements including BC Building Code, NFPA, and Fire Underwriters Survey, increasing the likelihood of repercussions.  

There would also be financial implications such as the potential waste of funds associated with the current site due diligence, costs for partially repeating due diligence at the new site (environmental assessment, servicing study, archaeological overview assessment, flight path consulting, and geotechnical investigation,) and the risk of rising project costs.

Less cost-certainty may jeopardize our ability to secure available grant funding - increasing the cost to taxpayers.   

  • With grant funding the estimated property tax increase would be ~2% or $55.46 annually for the average single-family household.  
  • Without grant funding the estimated property tax increase would be ~6% or $162.38 annually for the average single-family household over 30 years.  
Site Selection

1500 5th Ave. (a portion of Prentice Park) was selected by Council in January of 2024 as the location of the new Fire Hall, after a comprehensive pre-planning analysis that included extensive public engagement. Both sites, 902 2nd Ave. and 1500 5th Ave. meet the site selection criteria, including standard National Fire Prevention Association and Fire Underwriters Survey response requirements, however, 1500 5th Ave. was the recommended site by the Community Working Group, technical team, and the impacted internal business units based on several advantages:  

  • Greater site flexibility  
  • Opportunities for co-uses and future growth 
  • No known site contamination issues 
  • Shorter distance to the highway 

Read the August 19, 2025 report to Council here.