Sydney Station 2
New Sydney fire station holds grand opening for community
Sydney gets a new fire station.
Gilbert MacIntyre wasn’t even a week into his new position as deputy chief of the Cape Breton Regional Fire Service when he received mail he will never forget.
“I got a letter with no return address, not signed, and the letter stated very clearly about this person’s wishes for a new fire station and how they had been promised it for years,” said MacIntyre. “At the end of the letter it said ‘we’ll see what kind of stuff you’re made of if you can deliver on the station.’”
Three years later, and with the help of many others, MacIntyre was able to deliver just what the person who wrote the letter wanted — a new fire station.
Despite opening its doors in early April, the grand opening of the Sydney Station 2 Fire Department was held on Friday at its new location on Victoria Road in Sydney. The event, which was open to the public, featured a ribbon cutting to “officially” open the station along with FireFit Skills and Jaws of Life demonstrations. Residents also had a chance to walk through the facility and learn more about it.
Councillors Jim MacLeod and Ray Paruch as well as Deputy Mayor Eldon MacDonald spoke to close to 50 people in attendance for the ceremony.
MacIntyre said it was a long process in getting the new station.
“The chief director of fire services has lobbied for it for a long time now and really what the station does is it address two neighbourhoods, Whitney Pier and Ashby,” he said. “The Ashby station was closed some years ago because of health concerns and then we had that neighbourhood really being covered by the Whitney Pier department, further down on Victoria Road.”
Walter Marks, a retired deputy chief with the Grand Lake Road Volunteer Fire Department, also attended the ceremony. He was impressed with what the new station had to offer.
“I think this is very nice, one of the nicest fire stations that I have ever seen,” said Marks. “I think they (the firefighters) can get to each community fast now, those vehicles can move, and the new department is centralized — it’s the best place for it.”
The new station features drive-through bays, a dedicated fitness area for firefighters, an area for training and male and female shower areas. The station also has a decontamination room, which will allow gear and soiled clothing to be cleaned at the station following a call, rather than seeing firefighters take their clothing home with them.
The station will serve the Whitney Pier and Ashby areas, replacing the Whitney Pier station, which opened sometime in the 1970s and was originally intended to be a temporary home for the service.
The central station on the Esplanade was the only other operating station, this after the fire service closed its facility of Ashby Road in 2009, and later tore it down.
“I feel honoured to be able to do (the grand opening) to tell you the truth, but it wasn’t just my battle — this was a long time coming,” said MacIntyre. “The firefighters love it and I think the citizens do as well. I think the citizens of this neighbourhood will soon get to know the firefighters as we used to be in Ashby and Whitney Pier.”
“It’s a big day and the guys like to see people come in and enjoying it,” he said. “It’s tremendously important to serve these two communities.”
As for the letter he received, MacIntyre still has it in his desk and will likely have it for years to come.
“Maybe sometime the person will tell me who they are,” laughed MacIntyre. “I don’t even know if the person is a male or female.”