Township okays old Ripley Landfill property for a fire training facility

Huron-Kinloss council has given the green light to the construction of a $50,000 fire training facility on the vacant property that was the old Ripley Landfill site.

In committee-of-the-whole last night (June 5), Ripley-Huron fire chief Chris Cleave clarified that the proposed facility would be shared by the Ripley-Huron Fire Department and the Lucknow District Fire Department, but would be owned and managed by the Township of Huron-Kinloss.

“Both fire departments have agreed, in principle, to partner and jointly apply for, and request, grants and sponsorships to develop this shared fire training facility in the township,” said Cleave, adding that both fire chiefs have also agreed that if any budgetary requests are to be made to council, they will be of equal value and shared equally between the township and Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh which partially funds the Lucknow Fire Department.

The proposed facility would consist of a live fire “Class A” training structure built from metal storage containers (sea cans) which is currently the industry standard, said Cleave. It would also contain training areas for a number of fire- and rescue-related skill sets, such as hazardous materials fires, vehicle fires, auto extrication, and rubbish fires.

Cleave said funding for the training centre would come from sponsorships and other fund-raising initiatives.

“To date, we have received an in-kind donation of one 40-foot sea can to use toward the construction of the live fire structure,” he said.

In response to questions about operating the facility, Cleave said there would be a fee structure put in place for other fire departments to use it, but that would be covered under policies and procedures. He added there would be no charge for the Ripley or Lucknow fire departments to use it, since both are expected to help fund the construction of the facility.

“We would have a schedule and book the spaces,” he said, noting that with respect to instructors and equipment for training courses, those are covered by each department.

“The annual maintenance of the building would be almost nothing, unless something breaks,” said Cleave. “I would have a contingency fund in the fire budget for that.”

He said there would be no facility agreement in place with the Lucknow Fire Department or the Municipality of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh. “We just want their assistance in getting it built.”

Council agreed to have a letter, to that effect, sent to Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh.

Committee-of-the-whole okayed building the facility on the old Ripley Landfill site. That will come to council for final approval, June 19.