Hamlet says problems at fire station being ignored
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Repulse Bay (Jan 10/01) - Freezing temperatures indoors are causing problems at the Repulse Bay fire station.
The station has two furnaces but the temperature often drops below zero. And blizzard conditions put the hamlet's fire truck out of commission last month when water inside the truck froze solid.
"The doors on the building face North, right into the prevailing wind in Repulse," said hamlet senior administrative officer Brian McQuarrie.
He says the Department of Public Works in Rankin Inlet, which handled the expansion of the building about two years ago, has been told about the problems many times.
"We've written our concerns and phoned numerous times, but DPW has never done anything. All DPW has ever tried to do is place the blame on the hamlet of Repulse as a maintenance problem," says McQuarrie.
"Every bit of weather stripping on that building was changed and it made absolutely no difference."
McQuarrie says he recently discussed the problem with DPW's regional manager, Brian McKay, who promised to get back to him, but never did.
"It's been mind-boggling how DPW's sloughed off such a potentially dangerous situation. The situation is a catastrophe waiting to happen."
McKay says once the final inspection was completed on the fire station and any deficiencies addressed, the hamlet became responsible for maintaining the building.
He says DPW isn't bailing out of the situation and is meeting with the Department of Community Government and Transportation (CG&T) to deal with the situation.
"We will do whatever we can to help, including working with CG&T and the hamlet to put together a proper maintenance program for the facility," says McKay.
"Maintenance has to be done on a regular basis. While I can't state for a fact the maintenance on that building hasn't been done, it doesn't make sense for the building not to be able to maintain its heat."
A new, $250,000 fire truck for Repulse is on CG&T's capital plan and, if approved, the department wants to ensure it will be properly protected, says department spokesperson Shawn Maley.
"We're looking at some type of upgrade to the station prior to the fire truck arriving. The easiest solution would be to relocate the overhead door so it's not facing North, said Maley.
