Paradise sorting out fire service partnership

The town of Paradise has budgeted $2.5 million to build a new fire station.

But council must now decide which municipality to partner with, in order to make the service work best.

The City of St. John's currentlyprovides fire services to Paradise. But the town's mayor said the arrangement no longer works for Paradise, which has a population of almost 20,000.

"It's getting pretty stretched now," said Mayor Ralph Wiseman. "Paradise has grown tremendously over the last three or four years, and we need now a stand-alone station that's fully manned, 24-7."

Wiseman said the new station could become part of the St. John's system, or it could be part of a new, shared service with the towns of Conception Bay South and Holyrood.

"It's not economical for us to do this on our own. We would still need backup from other communities," he said.

Looking at options

Representatives from the three towns met last week and looked at the results of a study on whether a regional service would work.

Town councillors in Holyrood are still pondering the idea, but C.B.S. Mayor Woody French said he's already on board.

"If we can help our neighbours out, and provide a service to them, and provide a better service to the region, then that just makes good sense and saves money for all the municipalities, as well," said French.

The Paradise council will decide next week which arrangement to choose.

It will be another 18 months before the new fire station is built and operational.