by Stephen and Kim Bennett While we are certain all residents of the City of Powell River feel secure they have protection from the fire department, they should not be so sure because it’s not true.
We felt we had fire protection until we applied for permission to replace our current house. It seems we are in a city area with limited (second-class) fire protection. In a conversation with the fire chief Dan Ouellette of Powell River Fire Rescue, we learned there are others. Are you one of them?
We live on a quiet road in Cranberry close to amenities, yet in a rural setting on the edge of the city. Our house is over 70 years old and one of three on this street. For 18 years, we had been under the impression the city guaranteed us all municipal services, including fire protection. It was only when we applied for permission to replace our house, we discovered the situation.
It never occurred to us the absence of hydrants on our street had such significance. To get the permit, we were told to install a hydrant at our cost (up to $300,000), or install a sprinkler system at a lesser cost. A hydrant would protect all three houses, sprinklers would protect only ours.
At no point in our conversations, or in the officials’ recommendations, did anyone, but me, mention there are two other houses next to ours. Their owners, our neighbours, were also unaware of the lack of fire protection.
Ironically, our property once had protection when it was part of a larger property on Chilcotin Avenue, where the nearest hydrants are located. In 1976, it was subdivided. Our half joined Tanner Avenue, which has no hydrant service. The bylaws of 1976 made no demands for hydrants, but the BC Fire Code did. It demanded minimum distances from hydrants; the current bylaw merely incorporates this.
Why, we ask, did the council of the day ignore a provincial requirement? The BC Fire Code is not discretionary, yet it was not applied. Now, city council demands we provide the missing infrastructure or sprinklers, which will add considerable costs.
We are not developing an empty site, just replacing an existing house. We feel we are being held to account for council’s poor judgement in 1976. It seems council occasionally drops the ball. It also seems council wants someone else to pick it up.
How protected are you? Is your fire insurance any good? Do you live on the edge of the city? Is there a hydrant nearby, or is it on the next street? If it’s on the next street, you have no protection.
A house on Halsam Street and Tanner Avenue burned to the ground a few years ago because there was no hydrant. Now that site cannot be re-developed until its owner extends the water service. That could be you if there was a fire.
Stephen and Kim Bennett have lived on Tanner Avenue since 1994 and only discovered they don’t have City of Powell River fire protection services when they started the process of building a new home on their property.
