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Council decides on new fire truck and garbage fines

Castlegar will be getting a brand new fire truck in 2017.

Castlegar has added another weapon to its arsenal in its battle against the ongoing bear attractant problem. City council decided to amend Bylaw 1179 to include a $50 fine for garbage containers that are placed on the boulevard prior to 4:00 a.m. on garbage collection day. Bylaw officers will soon begin to enforce the fine beginning with recommendations from the WildSafe coordinator and repeat offenders.

Council has also decided to purchase a new truck for the fire department from Rocky Mountain Phoenix. The 2016 Rosenbauer mid-mount 100 foot ladder/platform truck plus value added components will cost $1,019,170 USD.

The city's current 1987 Ford-Anderson is required to be retired by March of 2017 in order to comply with Insurance Advisory Organization Fire Underwriters Survey requirements. The time from when the order is placed to delivery is approximately 450 days, so the new truck should show up just in time for the retirement party of the old truck.

The new truck will have a pumping capacity of 2000 gallons per minute. The new ladder platform device can assist not only in above grade rescue, but also below grade rescue and confined spaces. “It will also assist in taller development within the city as right now we are limited to three stories with our ground ladders,” said Fire Chief Gerry Rempel.

Rempel also reported that the ground ladders are also very labour intensive. The forty foot ladders require six crew members to operate and the new ladder device will only require one. “For our volunteers, this will be quite an asset. We are looking 30 years into the future and at where our community wants to be in 25 to 30 years,” added Rempel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Betsy Kline

About the Author: Betsy Kline

After spending several years as a freelance writer for the Castlegar News, Betsy joined the editorial staff as a reporter in March of 2015. In 2020, she moved into the editor's position.
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