ARDMORE – The long-awaited grand opening of the Station 8 Ardmore Fire Hall finally came to be on Aug. 27, when community members and local leaders had the opportunity to tour the facility, which had seen delays of nearly two years because of construction issues.
The new facility means all the amenities needed by the Ardmore Fire Department will be under one roof.
From administrative space to washers and dryers, space for training, equipment to wash gear and restock the fire trucks, the new facility will allow crews and trucks to have a much faster turnover rate when responding to emergencies.
Along with hundreds of community members that stopped by for burgers and refreshments, municipal leaders also took in the new MD of Bonnyville facility and shared congratulations and thanks to Ardmore’s volunteer firefighters.
Reeve Barry Kaliski took an extra moment to express deep gratitude to the volunteer members of the Bonnyville Regional Fire Department.
“Just the other day, my father experienced health troubles, (Iron River) Fire Chief Gordan Graves got up at two in the morning, to stay with my dad until the ambulance arrived,” said Kalinski.
In the first six months of the year, Ardmore firefighters responded to 11 medical assist calls due to ambulance services being unable to respond to calls within 20 minutes.
During that same window, Station 8 responded to six structure fires, 22 motor vehicle collisions, one wildland fire, and numerous other emergency calls.
Station 8 Ardmore
The Ardmore fire department has about 23 members. However, the Ardmore crew is made up of several oilpatch workers meaning that at any given time, half those members are usually away from the community, said Ardmore Fire Chief Derek Neumann.
For this reason, Neumann's number one focus is recruiting new members.
“One guy was telling me he is on the department, because when he's in camp, he wants his neighbour to look after his place. So then when he comes back from camp, and his neighbour goes to camp, he returns the favour,” the fire chief recalled.
This is what community is about, he says. “The Ardmore community is fantastic. They know the individual members on the fire department, so when one of our guys comes running, they clear the road. The support is just fantastic.”
Neumann, who has been a volunteer firefighter for 20 years, also acknowledged the extraordinary support spouses of the firefighters provide.
