1435 Beatty Road, which will be home to the new Scotch Creek-Lee Creek fire hall. (Image Credit: Google Street View)

By James Peters

Shuswap Fire Protection

New Scotch Creek-Lee Creek fire hall to be built not far from former hall razed by 2023 wildfire

Nov 26, 2024 | 12:09 PM

SCOTCH CREEK, B.C. — The Scotch Creek-Lee Creek fire hall has taken another step toward rising from the ashes.

The fire hall, located at 3852 Squilax-Anglemont Road, was destroyed in the Bush Creek East wildfire that swept through the North Shuswap in August, 2023.

In a news release issued Tuesday (Nov. 26), the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) says it has purchased a property just up the road to build a new hall. The pie-shaped property, with a street address of 1435 Beatty Road, is larger and more able to accomodate a future expansion of the building.

Image Credit: Columbia Shuswap Regional District

The CSRD says the purchase price for the property was $350,000. Board members had previously authorized the district to pay up to $400,000 for an appropriate property.

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Construction of the new hall will primarily be funded by a fire insurance payout for the former hall. A Request for Proposals to design and build the new hall closed last Friday (Nov. 22) and proposals are being evaluated. Construction is expected to begin next year.

General Manager of Protective Services Derek Sutherland says the new hall “will include space for fire trucks, gear storage and a training room, which could be used for community events.”

“In the short term, we will be building back what we had before, but the new site will have potential for future expansion as the community grows,” said Sutherland. “We are pleased to be moving forward with rebuilding plans.”

The district notes it has not yet decided what it will do with the former fire hall property. If the CSRD can’t find a use for the lot, it may be sold to help fund the purchase cost of the new property.

The former Scotch Creek-Lee Creek fire hall lot on Squilax-Anglemont Road, pictured in October 2023. (Image Credit: Google Street View)