Residents of Carmacks are “stoked” for the opening of the new fire hall, says village chief administrative officer Matthew Cybulski. So much so that Carmacks has a day-long celebration planned when the facility opens to the public on Aug. 12.
“We have a pretty grandiose event,” Cybulski said over the phone on July 27.
The village’s volunteer fire department has already moved in and started using the hall. When the department welcomes the community in August, they’ll host a BBQ, a bouncy house, tours and safety demonstrations, including extractions with the fire department’s new battery-powered jaws of life. There will also be attendees from the conservation authority, the territorial government and more.
“Pretty much anyone that’s been involved with this project, this will be a collective celebration,” Cybulski said.
That’s because the new fire hall has been eight years in the making. The old fire hall on River Drive was built in the ’80s and has always shared space with EMS. That means neither agency has had exclusive operating space.
With the opening of the new location, the fire department has three larger bays for its single truck, but this increased capacity opens the door for the village to get a second truck. There’s also locker space for 20 to 30 firefighters (up from a dozen at the old hall), outdoor training space, an indoor training room, offices, facilities to wash gear and space for archives.
“Basically, the biggest thing is our old fire hall was very condensed and small and tight. Which made it hard to do anything in the actual facility itself except for house our equipment and our machines,” said Carmacks Fire Chief Blake Vandecamp. “Now we actually can do stuff in the facilities … it gives us breathing space and the ability to expand our training and do more extensive training.”
The hall can also be used in emergency response situations to store equipment, food and act as a command post in the event of the kind of flooding Carmacks has seen in recent years. At the same time, that extra footprint allows the hall to act as a gathering space for events such as the annual gathering of the Recreation and Parks Association of Yukon, which takes place in Carmacks this October.
The grand opening takes place Aug. 12 from noon to 4 p.m.
*An earlier version of this story accurately reported Cybulski said the fire hall cost $13 million. After publication, Cybulski clarified that the final cost of the building has not been summarized yet. He said the project budget was $8.5 million and insured replacement cost of the building is $13 million.
Contact Amy Kenny at amy.kenny@yukon-news.com
