District 69 Fire Departments Achieve Superior Tanker Shuttle Accreditation
Posted in: News Item
Date Posted: 2021-11-09
Organization Name: Regional District of Nanaimo
Location: Nanaimo
Seven fire departments within District 69 have successfully completed the Superior Tanker Shuttle testing on November 6 and 7. The City of Parksville and Town of Qualicum Beach fire departments along with Errington, Coombs-Hilliers, Bow Horn Bay, Dashwood and Nanoose volunteer fire departments participated in the testing. As a result of this success, they have received Superior Tanker Shuttle accreditation for the fire protection boundaries within their respective areas.
The accreditation provides a reasonable equivalency to a municipal hydrant system. Once insurance providers are updated, anticipated by the first quarter of 2022, accreditation can result in fire-related insurance benefits to rural property owners within these recognition areas. Within the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN), including in the member municipalities of the City of Parksville and Town of Qualicum Beach, several rural areas are not connected to municipal water supplies and rely on alternative water sources for firefighting, including in Electoral Areas E, F, G and H.
The superior tanker shuttle service is a process of shuttling water using mobile water supply apparatus such as fire department tankers from fire hydrants and alternative water supply points to the fire site. To achieve the accreditation, the fire departments had to demonstrate that they could transport water from static water supplies or fire hydrant and maintain a flow of 1,000 litres per minute for up two hours. Over the course of the two-days of testing, each fire department used pumper trucks and water tender trucks to haul water from designated water supply sites to mock fire locations to demonstrate capabilities to qualify for the accreditation.
For more information about fire services within the RDN, please visit rdn.bc.ca/fire-departments, parksvillefirerescue.ca and qualicumbeach.com/fire-dept.
Quotes
“Congratulations to the participating fire departments on their Superior Tanker Shuttle Challenge accreditation. We appreciate the commitment and effort of the fire service personnel in our region and the essential support they provide to rural residents in the event of a fire and other emergencies.”
Tyler Brown, Chair, Regional District of Nanaimo
“This achievement is a great example of local fire departments working together under fire service agreements. We are proud of these close working relationships which facilitate excellent support to neighbouring departments. Congratulations to the departments on receiving this accreditation.”
Ed Mayne, Mayor, City of Parksville
“This is a great demonstration of the readiness of our firefighters and regional service departments to respond to a fire event. We are proud of this achievement and we are proud of the people that make our fire safety a priority, and who bring resourcefulness and resilience to our rural areas. Congratulations to all.”
Brian Wiese, Mayor, Town of Qualicum Beach
“This achievement demonstrates the skill of our firefighters and confirms the capabilities of our fire departments while at the same time highlighting the benefits of our local fire service partnership agreements and great working relationships.”
District 69 Fire Chiefs