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Committee for an Affordable Fire Hall ready to get to work

The public will be invited to submit their written ideas for “the top ten ways to get an affordable fire hall.”
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Shown in picture L to R: Keith Goforth, Bill Hutchinson Back row L to R: Don Cherkas, Gordon Lane, Myrna Johnson, John Kettle Front row L to R: Ellen Tzakis, Deb Cherkas, Deb Knox, Collette Caron - Missing from picture Mike Daybell. (Photo credit Mike Daybell)

Only days after successfully leading a campaign to defeat a borrowing referendum to construct a new fire hall in Creston, the Committee for an Affordable Fire Hall is back to work.

“In the New Year we will invite the firefighters to outline their immediate needs,” committee chairperson Myrna Johnson said on Tuesday. “Even if the referendum had succeeded, a new building would have been two years away, possibly longer depending how long expropriation proceedings took. We’d like to address any pressing safety concerns and will fundraise to get portable decontamination units if necessary. We would invite the mayor to apply his Mayor’s Club pledges to the cause of safety for our firefighters now.”

Among the issues pushing the need for a new or upgraded fire hall is the lack of facilities in the old fire hall to clean firefighters of contamination when they return from a fire. Johnson said her committee has begun to investigate the purchase of portable decontamination units.

At the group’s next meeting on January 10th, several fire hall construction alternatives will be presented, and the public will be invited to submit their written ideas for “the top ten ways to get an affordable fire hall.”

“The taxpayers have spoken,” says Committee chairman Myrna Johnson, “but it’s not enough to just say no. We’re very excited to use the momentum of the referendum to move forward toward solutions. We believe Creston can have a fantastic firehall at an affordable price through community efforts and interaction.”