A recent report on Burnaby’s fire service has done little to reassure one UniverCity resident that the safety of people living atop Burnaby Mountain hasn’t been “out of sight, out of mind” to city officials for more than a decade.
The report, which summarizes the findings of a comprehensive review of the fire department, recommends building a fire hall on top of the mountain within the next two years to address inadequate response times and the threat of a disastrous fire at the Trans Mountain tank farm.
Paul Salandini, who has lived in the UniverCity development for 10 years, had brought those identical concerns to the city in a letter two years ago.
But his letter sparked no response from the public safety committee – despite the fact a fire hall at SFU had been one of five priorities identified 16 years earlier in the city’s last comprehensive review of the fire department in 2002.
“I am not sure if the city is waiting for a massive fire to happen up here at SFU and people to get hurt before they finally get their heads out of the sand,” Salandini wrote in a letter to the NOW this week.
He said he was frustrated that the most recent review of the fire department identified needs the city has known about for years – like the SFU fire station – and still not acted on.
He said he was also “very disappointed” in Coun. Colleen Jordan who has raised concerns about how much it would cost the city to act on the recommendations in the report.
“Is city council that blind to not see the growth across the city and realize that there will have to be an increase in the fire and police?” Salandini wrote. “They must see it with the amount of building permits they receive each year.”
The city could be taking steps this year towards building a fire station on top of the mountain. This year’s provisional financial plan includes $300,000 in 2020 toward the design and construction of “Fire Station #8 – SFU.”
“I am glad that the report came out and it was made public so that the council will hopefully finally start to open their eyes to what needs to be done,” Salandini said.
