Red Deer County’s Technical Rescue Task Force and search and rescue volunteers will soon have a new home.
On Tuesday, council approved the purchase of a $2.9-million building south of Red Deer in Clearview Industrial Park. An additional $100,000 was approved for modifications, equipment and furniture.
The 12,800-square-foot building will be staffed by the county’s emergency management officer and emergency management co-ordinator.
It will provide training and office space for 35 search and rescue and technical rescue team members. Office space will also be set aside for RCMP members working in the rural area.
Assistant county manager Ric Henderson said the building replaces an aging Quonset hut located at 19th Street and 40th Avenue.
“Council has been talking for some time about replacing that facility (volunteers) are in now,” said Henderson.
“That building has outlived its lifespan.”
Besides providing more room for storing equipment, the new building will provide much-needed training space.
The county will also use some of the space for records management.
Technical rescue volunteers have responded to numerous incidents in the county, including high-angle and river rescues, and floods.
A team went to Canmore to help shore up homes undermined by flood waters last summer.
The team has also been called a number of times this winter to respond to farm buildings that had collapsed or been weakened by snow loads.
Henderson said they hope to be in the new building by the beginning of April.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com