Northern Rockies Fire Rescue moves to new fire hall

FORT NELSON, B.C. — The Northern Rockies Fire Rescue team has saved the municipality ‘millions’ by moving to a new fire hall.

According to recent social media posts from the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM), the Northern Rockies Fire Rescue team has moved fire halls to a new location at 5013 Cordova Way, leaving behind the current shared fire hall and public works facility on 48th Avenue East.

The NRRM’s website claims the move was necessary because of several flaws with the current fire hall, including insufficient space for both firefighters and public works staff members and outdated infrastructure that could cause response delays.

The NRRM reportedly considered three options:

• Constructing a whole new fire hall on a separate site, with an estimated cost of more than $24 million.
• Upgrading the existing 48th Avenue East facility, giving the entire space to the fire department and purchasing secondary space for public works, with an estimated cost of more than $21 million.
• Purchase the Cordova Way building and convert it into a functioning fire hall while renovating the 48th Avenue East facility for public works, with an estimated cost of $6.2 million.

The Cordova Way option was deemed the “most cost-effective and operationally sound solution,” with council approving the purchase of the building on July 14th.

Funding for the project comes from the provincial Growing Communities Fund grant and the existing NRRM facility reserves fund, meaning it won’t impact residents’ taxes.

The decision to use the Cordova Way building came in part after it was used by firefighters following the 2024 Parker Lake wildfire evacuation of Fort Nelson.

“Operating out of the [Cordova Way location] during that time allowed Fire Rescue to successfully conduct major, coordinated, multi-agency fire response operations at no cost to the NRRM,” the municipality’s website reads.

In order to “share the full background, and welcome the community to tour the facility,” an open house is being held at the new fire hall on August 12th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.