Town Of Comox Advances Firehall Upgrade Planning To Support A Growing Community

The Town of Comox has taken another step toward upgrading its fire station.

A local firm is set to prepare schematic designs for replacing the office portion of the existing Comox fire station and design work is expected to be completed by fall.

Once finalized, the project will move into the financial planning phase, with construction anticipated to begin as early as next spring, pending approval.

Originally constructed in 1977, the current fire hall has exceeded its intended lifespan and no longer meets the operational requirements of today’s fire service.

Essential amenities, such as offices, showers, washrooms, kitchen facilities, and meeting rooms are inadequate for the department’s current staffing and operational levels.

The fire station is jointly owned by the Town of Comox and the Comox Fire Protection District, with the Town covering two-thirds of the upgrade costs and the District (Area B) funding the remaining third.

“When our fire hall opened in 1978, we had one full-time firefighter and 20 paid-on-call members responding to about 70 calls per year,” said Fire Chief Gord Schreiner.

“Today, we have eight full-time firefighters and 52 paid-on-call members responding to over 900 incidents annually. We’ve simply outgrown the space.”

In addition to space limitations, the building faces several critical deficiencies, including outdated electrical systems, a leaking roof, poor accessibility, and construction that does not meet modern standards for disaster resilience.

The planned upgrade focuses on replacing the 4,200-square-foot office wing with a new three-storey, 10,000-square-foot facility.

Mayor Nicole Minions calls this step a significant and necessary one toward ensuring fire services can continue to grow alongside the community.

Read the full news release at Town of Comox.