County firefighters can get to emergencies faster than ever thanks to Sturgeon's newest fire hall – a hall that also honours Namao's first fire chief.
About 80 people celebrated the official opening of the new Sturgeon County Protective Services Building Saturday.
Also known as District of Namao Station #4, the roughly $5.5 million building is the headquarters of the county's fire and bylaw officers and is located on Range Road 252 just south of Hwy. 37. It replaces the old, crumbling Namao fire hall, which has been sold to a private owner.
The county built this facility at the recommendation of a 2009 report that called for a fire hall near the industrial heartland and Sturgeon Valley regions, said fire chief Pat Mahoney. Its location lets it service both areas and house additional equipment for the county's seven other fire halls.
Crews have already responded to about 195 calls since they moved into the new building in December, Mahoney said.
"This (building) has increased our efficiency and decreased our response time hugely," he said, with response times now down to seven to eight minutes from 12 to 14.
A big reason for that is the fact that the county's four daytime firefighters are now stationed in the same place as their gear, Mahoney said – previously, they had to either run to Namao to get it whenever there was a call or keep it in their county vehicles.
The headquarters features a vehicle bay, a backup generator, an industrial-strength washing machine, a couple of beds – preparation for the future when the county creates a 24/7 fire service, Mahoney said – a kitchen, a gym, and a large conference room that serves as a classroom for firefighters and an emergency operations centre.
There's also a curious piece of modern art in one of the stairwells: a wriggly ribbon of melted aluminium. This was retrieved from a vehicle fire last year and is now on permanent display at the hall, Mahoney explained.
Chief honoured
The building also includes a number of artifacts from the old Namao hall, such as a map book and a pair of grenade-style glass fire extinguishers.
There's also a meeting room named after Namao's first fire chief, Ted Suranyi. In it are photos of the old Namao hall and Suranyi's white firefighting helmet.
Namao used to get its fire protection from Morinville, explained Mahoney. That changed in 1982 when Suranyi's sister and her boyfriend died in a house fire in nearby Carbondale. The tragedy spurred Suranyi to co-found the Namao fire department.
Suranyi, 79, said he initially housed the department out of his auto repair shop next to Sturgeon Composite High. His employees did double-duty as daytime firefighters whenever volunteers weren't available. They didn't have cellphones, so it was up to the firefighters' wives to call them in whenever there was a fire.
The department's first fire was just 200 feet away at Sturgeon Composite in the form of a burning house trailer. The brakes on their old, leaky 1962 Chevy pumper truck were so bad that the hose actually shoved the truck backwards as it filled with water, Suranyi noted.
Suranyi served with the department for 20 years, battling major blazes and providing fire protection for Pope John Paul II during his 1984 visit to Namao.
Suranyi, who was not told about the room named after him until just hours before Saturday's opening ceremony, was visibly touched by this honour, fighting back tears when asked about it.
"I'm very honoured to get this from the municipality," he said.
"They're recognizing the service that we did for 20 years."
