There are better firehall options than Inverlea Park

Choosing where to put new firehall is more complex than it might seem.

Complex enough that it took consultants 82 fact-and-chart-filled pages to lay out the rationale for selecting three potential sites recommended for even deeper review.

One element that might surprise anyone without a firefighting background is that a north-end fire station should not be as far north as it can go.

And yes, that means the current, aging north-end station at Water Street and Cumberland Avenue is in the wrong place.

That’s the statistical side of the story; how quickly firefighters could reach a burning home from the various site options.

Another side relates to neighbourhoods and people who would live near a new fire station.

As has been made clear by reaction to each potential sites, many don’t want to. Fire response is noisy and disruptive. Homeowners would rather it begins somewhere else.

The city has known for a decade that the current north-end station needs replacing.

Last summer that consulting report identified three sites that would do the job: the former Northcrest Arena property on Marina Boulevard, Sunset Park at Chemong Road and Sunset Boulevard and Inverlea Park just west of Water Street and Parkhill Road.

All are owned by the city, which reduces costs significantly. Two other sites considered — right next to the existing Cumberland Street station and at the corner of Fairbairn Street and Towerhill Road — would have to be bought.

The two privately owned sites were rejected, but not for that reason alone. They are the two most northerly sites, which actually makes them the least efficient in terms of getting hoses on flames as quickly as possible.

It turns out that distance is not the overriding factor in optimizing location.

Fire stations need to be close to where fires are most likely to happen. Data shows fires are most common in older, central neighbourhoods. That’s one consideration.

Another is that each firehall is part of a network. There are three standards of response: the fire truck from the nearest hall arriving within four minutes; a second truck getting there within six minutes; and full response from all three halls within eight minutes.

In each case, the goal is to hit that arrival time for 90 per cent of fire calls.

Computing the likelihood of fire breaking out in any one area of the city, then merging the result with the way a new location would combine with existing stations to optimize all three goals is a complex dance.

Each of the three sites perform best in relation to one of those goals.

When all three goals are considered the Chemong/ Sunset site scores highest but the other two are close enough to be good alternatives, according to the consultants.

Another complication is that at some point a fourth station will be needed. Much of the report looks at how each of the three sites would mesh with a fourth station in either the east or west ends.

One factor the consultants did not consider is that Inverlea is a waterfront city park. That makes it an exceptionally valuable commodity, present and future.

City council is set to discuss dropping Inverlea from the list. With two at least equal and potentially better firefighting options available, it should go ahead and make that call.