South Huron Fire Services Update

On July 13, 2021, the Huron Park Fire Station was closed due to unsafe conditions at the facility. Since then, equipment and staff reporting to Huron Park have been re-deployed to the Exeter and Dashwood fire stations.  

The Municipality of South Huron hired Emergency Management and Training Inc. to conduct a Fire Master Plan. As part of their review, concerns regarding the Huron Park Fire Station were identified along with the building safety concerns previously identified. 

The Dashwood and Exeter fire stations have continued to demonstrate response times that are equal to or exceed the levels previously provided by the Huron Park Fire Station. In fact, for quite some time calls for the Huron Park catchment areas have required a two-station response due to a lack of available personnel at the Huron Park Fire Station. 

After careful consideration and based on no impact to service levels or public safety, Council authorized the permanent closure of the Huron Park Fire Station at their meeting on December 6, 2021. 

Moving forward, with the recommendations and assistance of Emergency Management Training Inc., South Huron is preparing a Work Plan that is sustainable and viable that will: 

·         Validate fire department service levels for the municipality

·         Inform future operating and capital budgets 

·         Inform the Asset Management Plan 

A Committee of Council comprised of Deputy-Mayor Dietrich, Councillor Oke and Councillor Willard has been established to work with the Fire Chief with a mandate to deliver this Work Plan to Council by June 30, 2022. See our Fire Master Plan - A Path Forward page for up-to-date information on this project.