Enterprise to get fire tower
Construction expected to start next spring
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, October 14, 2013
ENTERPRISE
A new fire lookout tower is expected to be constructed just south of Enterprise next spring.
A tower is one of the better ways to watch for fires, said Rick Olsen, manager of fire operations with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) in Fort Smith. "Because you've got an eye directly over your higher-value-type areas."
The 30.5-metre tower will be located about two kilometres south of Enterprise, between Highway 1 and the Hay River.
"Part of the reason we want to put it there is, when we look at our detection strategies with communities being the highest priority and life
associated with communities, the closer to communities, the sooner that we can spot things," Olsen said.
The tower in Enterprise will be run by one person.
Mayor Mike St. Amour believes that could benefit the community.
"I hope there will be a job," he said.
St. Amour said the community will also benefit from the increased watch for forest fires in the summer. The tower will be able to offer more protection for Enterprise, and the areas toward Hay River and Kakisa.
Each tower is unique, Olsen said. "But you should be able to expect at least a 25- to 40- kilometre view around the site."
A lookout tower offers an advantage over satellite surveillance in quickly spotting forest fires.
The current satellite systems detect heat and they can identify a fire through cloud, but a fire needs to be of a certain size before it can be detected, Olsen said. "You may not find out about a fire until it's of a size too large to deal with."
The new tower at Enterprise will be similar in appearance to Raven's Nest Tower, which was opened by Parks Canada in the spring of 2006 along Highway 5 in Wood Buffalo National Park.
According to the website of the Department of Public Works and Services, the request for tenders to build the Enterprise tower closed on Sept. 20, and three bids were received. The bid prices range from $286,000 to $846,000.
As of Oct. 8, the tender had not been awarded.
"I think right now, we're hoping that we can get a contract in place over the next month or so, but with winter coming and the requirements for concrete work and stuff like that, I would expect that any construction is not going to really occur until the spring," said Olsen. "I would be surprised if they got a lot done before the snow falls."
Olsen said the new fire tower will join two others operated by ENR in the South Slave. One is Kimble Tower, north of Kakisa near the turnoff to Fort Providence on Highway 1. The other is in the Cameron Hills.
Up to a few years ago, there was another tower at Hart Lake, about 30 kilometres west of Enterprise. It was decommissioned because of structural issues.
Olsen said the new lookout tower in Enterprise will, in part, replace the Hart Lake Tower.
ENR also operates four lookout towers in the Deh Cho region.
