Photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters

By Liam Verster

New Equipment

Vernon Fire Rescue seeking new electric vehicle and equipment

Oct 6, 2023 | 1:10 PM

Vernon Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) is looking to bolster its operations with some new equipment.

VFRS will submit two requests to Vernon council at the regular meeting on Oct. 10

The first request will be for an electric vehicle.

The fire department stated that community growth has led to increased demands for fire services and a new light-duty transportation vehicle is required to support that work.

VFRS will request council approve up to $69,000 to purchase a light-duty electric vehicle.

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That cost could be partially covered by the Provincial Climate Action Fund, which as of date of publication, had a balance of $410,164. There would also be an ongoing operational cost of $3,000 to cover the annual maintenance and insurance costs.

The second request by VFRS will be for the purchase of electric vehicle fire suppression equipment.

The department stated the equipment is needed to address fires in electric vehicles that are hard to control.

The EV fire suppression equipment would cost approximately $80,000, and VFRS requested it also be funded through the Provincial Climate Action Fund.

The final request from VFRS is for the city to purchase an emergency management drone.

The department stated the tethered drone could provide a bird’s eye view during emergency situations such as floods, wildfires, building collapse, landslides, and large fire events.

The drone is estimated to cost $50,000, and the fire department requested the city use the remaining $27,526 in the Emergency Response Reserve to pay for this and to cover the difference through the Municipal Finance Authority Dept Reserve. The report to council did not provide a balance of the debt reserve.

The report recommends that council consider the requests relating to the light-duty electric vehicle and the electric vehicle suppression equipment and bring them forward to the 2024 budget deliberations, while also approving the purchase of the emergency management drone.