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Construction almost complete on new Rossland Search and Rescue facility

Crews have been hard at work over last two years to complete project
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The facility will become fully operational later this year. Connor Trembley photo

Construction is almost complete on the new Rossland Search and Rescue facility near the intersection of Highway 22 and Black Bear Road.

Crews have been working on the building for the last two years.

Once completed, the 4,000-square-foot facility will store equipment and serve as a base for volunteers during rescue operations.

Volunteer Chris Overton said the building was designed to help save time when vehicles are being washed.

“The entire floor area is sloped towards gutter drains, which means crews will easily be able to wash vehicles down after they’ve been out on winter roads,” said Overton. “When water enters the drain, it will go into a catchment basin and into an underground rock pit.”

A gas furnace has also been installed to heat the facility.

Two washrooms with showers, a command centre and a board room will be located on the first floor and a meeting and training room will be located on the second floor.

“In years past, we had to use the basement of the Rotary Health Centre for meetings. We also had to use the city yard to store vehicles and trailers as we started to acquire them,” said Overton.

“We’ll now finally have a place to store, work and do upgrades on all our equipment.”

One final construction task is to build an emergency exhaust system, which will help to detect and blow exhaust fumes from vehicles outside the facility.

One final permit still has to be obtained for the building before it becomes fully operational later this year.

READ MORE: Province backs Rossland search and rescue HQ


@connortrembley
connor.trembley@castlegarnews.com

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