Whats New This Week

Good news on the waterfront - ha ha - both Prestige Hotel and Mariners Site have their hydrants activated now. In the event of an emergency, this will certainly make things easier. Budget discussions began this week with all departments presenting their 5-year operating and capital budgets to council for their review. The next session(s) will be April 4 and 5 at Committee of the Whole.
The new pickup truck has arrived and is almost ready for service. It just needs stripes and decals (being applied this weekend) and then the cover for the pick up box will take place on Monday. When this is complete, it will go into service as Unit 209 (Batallion 1). Unit 208 will then become Squad 1 - This truck is now almost complete and looks pretty good for a homemade job. All that is left is the rear bumper which is presently being manufactured. This vehicle conversion being done in house and by utilizing a used body came in almost 50% under the budget that was projected. Thanks again to Chris for all his hard work in getting this unit ready. With 208 as Squad 1, Unit 210 (the old ambulance) will again become Squad 2 and be moved back to Station 2. I would expect all of this in place by early next week.
Provided the budget is approved, specs will be drawn up and sent out for bids on the replacement of Unit 204. It is anticipated that this truck will be delivered sometime in early 2012.

I attended the LG EPAC meeting yesterday at CRD Headquarters (lots of acronyms I know) but the interesting thing was a power point presentation by the Saanich Emergency Coordinator on the effects of the two earthquakes that hit Christchurch NZ. Some very interesting stuff here and I will get a copy of the presentation for everyone to view. Somethings that will really make you think about how prepared we think we are. With this in mind and the terrible situation in Japan, I will be planning an EOC exercise based on a large Tsunami off the Coast of Oregon on Saturday, April 30th. It is hoped that many of the DOS staff and volunteers will attend. Check out the email I sent out earlier today for more information.

On a final note, it appears that Evolutions may be on again. (Sponsored by the Vancouver Island Firefighters Association) this is a fun weekend of games and activies for all ages. It appears Ladysmith has offered to host and tentatively have put the date down as July 15 - 17. More info to follow.