The Cookshire-Eaton Agglomeration Fire Protection Service (SPCI) has inaugurated Fire Station No. 2, located in Sawyerville. The department now has three more spacious and functional fire stations: Cookshire-Eaton, Sawyerville and Johnville.
The original Sawyerville station was built in 1954, and quickly became outdated for several reasons, including the size of the building. The old municipal garage also served as a temporary station for a period of almost 10 years, but it too was too small, so it was very difficult to store equipment and maintain the vehicles. As early as 2011, the city council began to discuss the construction of a building. The work began in the fall of 2021 and required an investment of $1.25 million.
This 11-year project took almost two years to complete. This can be attributed to various factors linked to the pandemic, such as the scarcity and cost of building materials, for example, said Éric Cloutier, director of the Fire Protection Service. The mayor of Cookshire-Eaton, Mario Gendron, is very happy with the finished work. “I am particularly happy and proud to see all the work that has been done to upgrade the fire stations on our territory. Today we officially begin operations at Firehouse No. 2 in Sawyerville. For the citizens of Cookshire-Eaton and Newport, today we have proof that there is strength in unity,” concluded Gendron.
The Cookshire-Eaton agglomeration includes the municipality of the same name as well as that of Newport. Nearly fifty officers and firefighters are responsible for covering an area of approximately 567 km2 with 6,042 resident citizens. That’s nearly 11 people per square kilometer. About 400 operations take place per year, said Marcel Charpentier, chief of operations for the three stations. In addition to putting out fires, the SPCI personnel also act as first responders for road accidents and rescues in zones that are more difficult to access. “Really, everything that falls into the category of emergency calls. There is more than one a day,” he concluded.
Of the 50 firefighters, 17 are stationed in Cookshire-Eaton, 18 in Johnville and 13 in Sawyerville. The various vehicles of the Cookshire-Eaton SPCI are distributed across the three stations and include two tank-trucks, three fire pumps, three emergency-unit trucks, one rescue boat and one all-terrain vehicle for “off-road” cases. The municipality of Cookshire-Eaton also has a training center very close to the Sherbrooke airport, which is used by many municipalities in the Estrie region, but also by the Canadian army, the RCMP and the Sûreté du Québec, explained Cloutier, director of the SPCI.
According to Cloutier, the construction of a fire hall with four doors had become necessary. With the growth in numbers, the purchase of new equipment, and the large area to be covered, upgrading the station in the Cookshire-Eaton agglomeration was self-evident. The brand new fire hall also has a training room.