FAQs

In Electoral Areas of a regional district, the regional district government must establish a local service area in order to deliver services such as fire protection, water, street lighting and waste collection. The service area is created by bylaw. The bylaw defines the services being provided, the geographic area boundaries within which the services are to be provided, and the maximum amount that may be requisitioned through taxation for the services provided from service area residents.

In 2005, the Nanaimo River area was added to the Extension Fire Protection Service Area to enable Nanaimo River residents to receive fire protection from the Extension Volunteer Fire Department (the “EVFD”). When the properties were added, it was recognized that a satellite firehall, designed primarily to serve the Nanaimo River area, would be beneficial given the travel distance to the area from the EVFD firehall.   Accordingly, a second service area, the Nanaimo River Fire Protection Service Area, was created to fund the purchase of land, buildings, vehicles and equipment to provide fire protection services.  

Since 2005, funds have been accumulated under that bylaw for the purpose of constructing a satellite firehall and funding the purchase of fire apparatus and equipment. At present, the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) holds $216,554 in a capital reserve fund.

Property Taxes: Fire protection, like any other regional district service, is primarily funded through taxes charged against the owners of properties receiving that service. The total annual cost of service delivery is calculated and covered through taxation of the property owners receiving that service, usually based on assessed values of land and/or improvements, or a parcel tax or combination of these methods. For certain services, the tax requisition may be reduced where there are user fees also being collected.

Fire Insurance Premiums: Owners of private property may insure against the risk of loss, including fire. Any person with a mortgage will be required by the lender to take out such insurance. When insurance companies set premiums (fees) for fire insurance, they take into consideration several risk factors, one of which is the level to which the insured property is protected from fire by a responding fire department. In general terms, the better the fire protection service as assessed by the Fire Underwriters, the lower the insurance premiums.  

A Dwelling Protection Grade (DPG) is a fire department rating established by the Fire Underwriters and used by insurers to assess the level of fire protection available for single family residential properties. The rating is set on a 5-point scale, where a rating of “1” reflects the best fire protection and “5” reflects that no insurance industry-recognized fire protection is provided. For a residential property to benefit from the fire department’s rating, it must be within eight kilometres (8 km) of a responding firehall. If beyond that, the rating drops to DPG 5 or “unprotected.” For more information, go to: Grading (fireunderwriters.ca).

The EVFD is currently rated at DPG 3B (semi-protected), which means it relies on water tenders (a truck equipped with a water tank), rather than fire hydrants to provide water for fire protection. This rating generally results in significant insurance savings for residential property owners whose properties are within eight kilometres (8 km) of the EVFD firehall.

The RDN is engaging with the Fire Underwriters to determine what the effect will be if a satellite firehall is (or is not) constructed in the Nanaimo River area.  

Yes. As a result of information arising from the current review, Fire Underwriters are reviewing the DPG in the Nanaimo River Fire Protection Area. The DPG for approximately 50 properties may be lowered from 3B (semi-protected) to 5 (unprotected).

NOTE:  This does not factor into the Dwelling Protection Grade rating.  

Structure fires evolve at a rapid rate. The most effective way to stop the growth of a fire in a structure, to prevent further property damage and risk to persons, is to assemble the necessary resources at the scene to extinguish the fire in as short a time as possible. Within about eight minutes of ignition, a fire can generally be expected to expand beyond the room of origin, resulting in significantly greater property damage and risk to inhabitants.  

A satellite firehall located in the Nanaimo River area would help reduce EVFD response times in the area and improve fire protection for residents.   

A fire department storage facility is a basic structure used to store fire department trucks and from which that truck responds to incidents. Fire department storage facilities do not have adequate space and amenities to be recognized by Fire Underwriters as a firehall, and therefore do not contribute to reduction in fire insurance premiums.  

A fire department storage facility would be less expensive to construct and would also shorten response times, but it likely would not be recognized by the Fire Underwriters for rating purposes. The RDN continues to explore this with the Fire Underwriters.

There would be three main benefits of constructing a satellite firehall. 

1. A satellite firehall would result in reduced response times in the Nanaimo River area, thus improving fire protection service for the properties and residents there. 
2. Properties in the Nanaimo River area would be within eight kilometres of a recognized firehall, entitling owners of those properties to the insurance premium benefit of the department’s DPG 3B rating.  
3. Expanding the EVFD to two firehalls would improve the department’s ability to respond to major structure and interface fires throughout its entire service area.

Over time, as the EVFD’s services evolve and improve, the satellite hall would also contribute to an improved fire protection rating for commercial, industrial and multi-family properties (fire protection for these occupancy classifications is rated on a different scale from the DPG).

Constructing, equipping and staffing (with volunteers) a satellite firehall will involve incurring costs, some of which will likely need to be funded through borrowing. When first conceived, in addition to acquiring a property in the Nanaimo River area as a firehall location, the RDN passed a bylaw authorizing the borrowing of up to $280,000 to fund construction. The principal and any borrowing costs would have to be funded through property taxes in the Nanaimo River Fire Protection Service Area.

Operating a satellite firehall that is recognized by the Fire Underwriters will require 10 regularly responding members to be assigned to that hall. Ideally, members should be drawn from the Nanaimo River area to improve response times. Additional recruitment and training of new members will therefore be necessary. 

The RDN is currently reviewing the potential costs and process. Upon completion of the feasibility study, the RDN will share findings with the Nanaimo River community via a presentation and present recommendations to the Electoral Area Services Committee for consideration.

Capital costs (construction and initial outfitting expenses) would be paid through taxation of property owners in the Nanaimo River Fire Protection Service Area. 

Operating costs (ongoing operating, maintenance, and replacement expenses) would be paid through taxation of property owners in the Extension Fire Protection Service Area (which includes Nanaimo River).

A satellite firehall would become a part of the EVFD. The department would need to increase its number of firefighters – the main firehall requires a minimum of 15 firefighters plus a chief officer, while a satellite firehall requires a minimum of 10 regularly responding members. The department would experience an associated increase in its administrative workload as well as some logistical challenges connected with operating two separate buildings approximately ten kilometers (10 km) apart. 

The addition of a satellite firehall would also mean that the EVFD would have more trucks and trained firefighters available to respond to major incidents, whether structure fires or interface events, throughout its service area.  

The RDN is currently reviewing with the Fire Underwriters what the outcomes would be if a satellite firehall was not constructed.