Victoria has opened a new main fire hall and emergency operations center in an earthquake-resistant building

A new 12-storey building at 1025 Johnson Street on the edge of downtown Victoria now houses the city’s main fire hall and Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

The eight-story building also contains 130 affordable housing units – owned and operated by Pacifica Housing – a level of office space that separates the fire hall from the residences and bays for two ambulances.

It was built to seismic standards above the average building and is expected to still function in the event of an earthquake.

Tanya Seal-Jones, the city’s emergency program coordinator, says she can breathe easier now that the EOC is ready.

Previously, all emergency coordination equipment and supplies were kept in a trailer. In the event of an emergency, officials will determine where he lives.

Given the potential for communication problems during a major disaster, it was difficult to let emergency personnel know where they needed to go.

Emergency operations center at the new Victoria Fire Department headquarters. The colored vests correspond to the different groups that will be in the room coordinating response during an emergency. (Katherine Marlowe/CBC)

The new building is equipped with emergency generators, satellite technology and other backup methods of communication.

“It’s a heavy weight on my shoulders because I know everything is ready to go,” said Seal Jones.

In an emergency, such as an earthquake, whoever needs to be part of the coordination will go to the building.

Joining the fire and emergency officials will be representatives from the police, transit and BC emergency health services, city employees and elected representatives.

As they work to coordinate the disaster response, they will be able to eat from the emergency food supplies stored in the building – which can be cooked using the large kitchen that fire crews use daily.

Modern amenities for fire crews

While the EOC will not be used daily, the building has amenities for the firefighters who are always there.

In addition to the kitchen, there is a brand new gym, lounge, and a low stimulus room with blackout drapes, where firefighters can take a downtime after a tough call.

Just some of the equipment in the gym in the new firehouse. The firefighters pooled money to purchase both a gym and kitchen equipment. (Katherine Marlowe/CBC)

“It has been shown to have an enormous benefit for individuals to be able to return to a calm place after a traumatic event and just decompress,” said Fire Chief Dan Atkinson.

Firefighters now also have individual sleeping spaces, rather than the more traditional open sleeping quarters.

Each room has a bed and a small desk.

Atkinson hopes the separate rooms will help recruit a more diverse and inclusive firefighting staff.

noise reduction

Since the new fire hall is located in a building with several apartment towers, additional work was done to ensure that fire calls would not be disturbing.

Once the firefighters are alerted to a call, they press a button to activate the traffic system.

This system activates a red light just outside the firehouse, stopping traffic on the one-way street from driving in front of the bay doors.

A traffic light on Johnson Street outside the new Victoria Fire headquarters in Victoria, British Columbia, on April 26, 2023 (Katherine Marlowe/CBC)

It also causes the light at the nearby intersection of Johnson and Cook Streets to turn green, meaning that traffic on Johnson will flow away from the firehouse.

Because of this, fire engines can safely withdraw from the building without immediately activating a siren and waking their neighbours.

The old headquarters at 1234 Yeats Street will house the Victoria Fire Fleet Maintenance Department for at least two years, with no long-term plans for the building yet.

The city has two other fire stations, at 650 Michigan Avenue and 740 Bay Street.

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