The municipality of Morris-Turnberry is taking the first steps towards creating their own fire service.
Mayor Paul Gowing says they’ve purchased two parcels of land to build fire stations on, one in Belgrave and the other near Wingham.
Currently, the municipality pays neighbouring areas to provide fire service to their residents, but Gowing says this is an opportunity to tailor services to their own communities.
He says this will allow them to regain control of their fire services and will also give the municipality equity and capital dollars within their own borders.
Gowing says Belgrave is currently what they consider an underserviced area and a fire station in that community will give a higher level of service to the residents.
Gowing says they’re currently looking through their budgets and will also investigate their options from the provincial and federal governments.
He says they’ve set a benchmark date of January 1st, 2014 for both fire stations to be open and in use.
