Sudbury to close Beaver Lake fire hall after it fails to recruit enough volunteer firefighters

Greater Sudbury city council has decided not to grant an extension to the Beaver Lake fire hall after it failed to recruit enough volunteer firefighters in the past year. 

The station was tasked with recruiting 11 people by June 2024 to avoid being shut down, but only had seven by the time the deadline came up this month.

This effectively means the station will close, with future fire response in that community coming from 20 kilometres away in Whitefish, or from even further out in Lively.

The chair of the Beaver Lake fire services Ralph Prentice knew the future of the station was uncertain, but he wasn't expecting this outcome. 

"I'm very surprised," he said. "I thought we had more councillors on our side than what we actually got on the vote." 

The motion to grant the group an extension was narrowly defeated, with five councillors voting in favour, seven voting against, and one being absent from the meeting. 

Among those who wished to grant an extension were Natalie Labbée and Eric Benoit. 

"Beaver Lake's going to have one more [volunteer firefighter] than Levac, but that station is not on the chopping block," said Labbée. "I think for fairness out of all the station and out of due diligence we should give them a chance."

Benoit expressed concerns that consolidating the fire service with that of Whitefish would discourage the newly recruited volunteer firefighters in the area. 

"Now you will have volunteers who are going to be traveling 21 kilometres in the opposite direction of a fire to even get their gear," he said. "How many of these volunteers are we going to be able to retain?" 

Fire response in Beaver Lake typically comes from other stations

However others around the council table were concerned by the costs associated with granting an extension, which would have included $30,000 annually for operations, and some $150,000 to equip the station with a new fire truck. 

There were also concerns about Beaver Lake's ability to retain the volunteer firefighters it recruited. 

Sudbury's general manager of community safety, Joe Nicholls, told council that between June 2023 and June 2024 there were 14 calls for service in the Beaver Lake area, and only six of them were answered by the station there. 

"Out of those six calls, it was always a one person response," he said. "From a health and safety perspective, a single or one or two firefighters showing up on a on a truck, especially one is not a response."

"The key point is, we're talking about small numbers here, and the reality is those are not sufficient," added Nicholls. 

Prentice says the Beaver Lake Fire Services group now intends to vote on how it could take the issue elsewhere.