Fire hall in Cape Breton community slowly sinking

The fire hall in Port Morien, N.S., is slowly sinking, and people in the community are worried the building may soon be unusable.

Part of the structure has shifted from its foundation, cracks are visible on the garage floor, and the local fire department will no longer parks its trucks on one section for fear the floor will give way.

An engineering report, carried out by a consulting firm, said the ground below the station is subsiding and some soil is eroding.

The volunteer fire chief for Port Morien, James Bates, said the department needs a new building.

"It's continually sinking down into the soil so, I mean, it's something that we've got to get rectified," he said.

The area has a long coal mining history, although underground mine workings are not believed to be the cause of the subsidence.

Bates said estimates from the consulting firm suggest a new building will cost about $700,000.

He said the MLA for the area, Alfie MacLeod, will arrange a meeting with the provincial government to see what funding may be available.

Leroy Peach, a longtime resident who lives just a few blocks away from the fire hall, said the damage is getting worse each day.

"I would say that the building is not going to be usable very much longer, the geological situation is not very good here," said Peach.

Ken MacDonald, another longtime resident, said the current building was put together in pieces over time.

"Back in 1959 they took the old highway garage, took it in sections, cut it up, brought it down and put together the hall," said MacDonald. "Over the last 60 years or so there's been pieces built on, it was done piecemeal." 

Land for a new fire hall has been provided by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality a few blocks away, next to the former Gowrie school.

Peach said the department will call a public meeting to start fundraising efforts for the community's share of the cost .

Bates said the department hopes to begin construction next year.