THUNDER BAY — When the James Street swing bridge reopens later this year, Thunder Bay Fire Rescue trucks responding to calls from Fort William First Nation will still have to take a longer route via Highway 61 and Chippewa Road.
The First Nation will now expedite efforts to establish a volunteer fire service after learning that Thunder Bay's firefighting fleet no longer includes front-line vehicles light enough to cross the repaired bridge.
Prior to the bridge closure due to a fire in late 2013, the fleet had trucks that weighed less than the bridge's 15,000 kilograms limit.
But Deputy Fire Chief Greg Hankkio says that, since then – due to changes in national firefighting apparatus standards – older vehicles have been replaced with larger, heavier units that surpass the weight threshold by 5,000 to 7,000 kilograms.
Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins learned about the problem Wednesday evening.
He said "This means we have to get very proactive and get ready to get our first response team in place here, because we've lost some pretty significant units here in the last couple of years because of the response time."
Collins was referring to the fact that it's taken emergency crews longer to get to the First Nation from the city since the detour necessitated by the bridge closure.
Thunder Bay Fire Rescue calculates that it takes four-and-a-half minutes to get to the bridge from Station 6 in Westfort, and about nine minutes to get to the bridge via the longer route.
"Hopefully we can get some funding in place for our first response team," Collins said.
The chief said Fort William First Nation is still working on a funding application to Indigenous Affairs, and hopes to acquire two fire trucks through donations.
Training for volunteer firefighters will also be required.
The First Nation pays an annual fee to the city for firefighting services under an agreement that remains in place.
Bridges on all other public roads in the city are capable of handling all the fire trucks in Thunder Bay's fleet.
