After years of being on the back burner, a new East Courtenay Firehall and Fire Training Centre have been approved by Courtenay Council.

"This is going to help with retention and of course, obviously the biggest component, firefighter training," enthused Courtenay Fire Chief Don Bardonnex. "Having a new home on the east side allows us to reduce our response times to the other  side of the community and to our Fire Protection Districts as well."

The state of the art facility, with a total project cost in the range of 10-million dollars, could house various Comox Valley emergency services personnell.

"Comox Valley Emergency Program and Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue have already done the spatial requirements for the basic plan of the building. "It is now just up to finances to see how they are going to work that out to see if it comes through," explained Bardonnex.

Bardonnex clarified the specifications of the East Courtenay Firehall and Training Centre.

"This is going to be a full firehall facility, it will have offices, it will also have a gym, recreational areas and a very, very large training room to be used as an EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) when needed."

City of Courtenay staff confirm the Fire Training Centre will be complete late in 2014, while the East Courtenay Firehall is expected to be in full operation the next year, late in 2015.

Courtenay Council voted in favour of the project at their Monday night Council Meeting.

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