The Moncton Fire Department is already using their brand new fire station on Caledonia Road.
Deputy Fire Chief Don McCabe says it’s a state of the art, modern fire station.
He adds it’s very energy efficient and you can practically walk through the entire building without having to flip a light switch.
“The lights are ahead of you all the time, it senses motion, it senses occupancy,” says McCabe. “Some of the areas that the light switches are manual sense that you’re gone, and if you’re gone from that position for ten minutes or so, the lights shut off automatically.”
McCabe adds with firefighters working 1 day on and 3 days off, the station is outfitted with a top notch kitchen, as well as bedrooms to keep them comfortable as they work.
“This is their home away from home, they’re together, they’re a family while they’re here, they’re permitted to go to bed at night, and we make the station as comfortable as we can,” says McCabe. “You know they deal with things all day and they have a weight room, firefighters are in great shape today.”
There is a 400 square foot gym to help keep the firefighters fit.
McCabe says their new heating override system allows them to get their trucks back in service quickly.
“At 30 below, the truck is frozen it’s full of water from the outside from the residual effect of the fire and it comes back and it’s out of service because the doors are frozen shut, the ladders are frozen, the hose beds are frozen, so here the guys can thaw the trucks out much faster,” says McCabe.
He says the $3.2 million fire station is expected to last 50 years.