Population growth and wildfire risk prompts 24/7 fire service expansion in Hammonds Plains, N.S.

The charred trees lining Hammonds Plains Road lead straight towards Halifax Fire Station 50.

They are a stark reminder of how close the wildfire came to the fire station and the destruction along the path of the fire, which destroyed dozens of homes and businesses in the Hammonds Plains, N.S., area in May 2023 and forced hundreds to flee their homes.

Station 50 is now set to convert to around-the-clock service after the Halifax Regional Council passed its budget earlier this week.

The destructive wildfire and risk of future wildfires isn't the only reason for the need to expand fire services in the area. There's also the steady population growth in the community, which is seeing more people moving to the region.

“We base our decisions on data and a number of different factors in our community risk analysis," said Scott Ramey, assistant fire chief with Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency.

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Before the 2024 - 2025 budget approval, Station 50 in Hammonds Plains was operating with four full-time firefighters on site 10.5 hours a day during the week, with a contingent of volunteer firefighters backfilling on weekends and evenings.

The area's population surge alone justified the jump to 24/7 service says Hammonds Plains councillor Pam Lovelace, who has been pushing for round-the-clock fire service in the area since she was elected to council in 2020.

Lovelace says Halifax council should never have had to debate and approve Station 50 going 24/7 in the first place, because they meet the threshold standards to increase service.

“This should not be a decision that’s made by council and it shouldn’t be determined on which district gets it," said Lovelace. "If the community hits that population threshold, the community should get a 24/7 station.”

That threshold is 100 persons per square kilometre and Lovelace says the Hammonds Plains area passed that threshold two years ago.

On Tuesday, Halifax council approved $2 million in the budget to go towards expanding fire services at Station 50, where they’ll need to hire 15 firefighters to go round the clock.

“They’ll go through our career firefighter recruitment class which will graduate around December 2024, with a target of having them in the station in early 2025," said Ramey.

Other factors went into expanding the fire service in Hammonds Plains, like the record wildfire last summer and the risk of future wildfires which put extra emphasis on the need for increased service.

“The wildfire is something we saw as a major risk and it reinforced the fact that we need to address those risks and have the proper staffing to deal with it," said Ramey.

Halifax Fire does have a comprehensive wildfire strategy said Ramey, pointing out that the fire service just hired a wildfire mitigation manager to oversee that operation.

Councillor Lovelace says they know the area is still prone to be a wildfire risk and having 24/7 service is something the community has been calling for.

"It just means firefighters can respond immediately," said Lovelace. "We need better fire protection."

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