A new fire station is taking shape at Mount Washington Alpine Resort on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, as the Comox Valley Regional District pushes ahead with a long-awaited emergency response project.
According to CTV News, construction began May 28th on the prefabricated facility, which has been in development since 2021. The roughly 1.5 million Canadian dollar project is expected to wrap up in late 2026, with officials eyeing an October or November completion date.
The decision to build a dedicated station on the mountain was driven in part by a destructive fire years ago that wiped out several chalets at the resort, exposing the limitations of relying on fire crews based in the valley below.
Regional rural fire chief Bruce Green said filling the new hall with enough personnel is among the biggest hurdles ahead. The department wants to grow its mountain-based roster from eight firefighters to somewhere between 10 and 15, and is counting on volunteers from the local community to make that happen. Because the resort’s permanent population is relatively small, Green sees an opportunity in the resort’s own workforce.
“With some ingenuity I think we’ll be able to get there. There’s lots of staff that work with the resort that are currently firefighters down in the valley. Can we work with the resort to allow some of those firefighters to respond up there?” – Bruce Green
The station will be equipped with a 65-foot ladder truck and a utility terrain vehicle suited for winter mountain conditions, with a tracked response vehicle potentially being added down the line. Faster response times during winter months, when mountain road conditions can deteriorate quickly, are the primary goal once the hall is up and running.
