Cranbrook firefighters could soon offer fire protection and emergency services to all homes within 13 kilometres of the fire hall.
City council made the decision at its Monday, October 1 meeting, to support a Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) initiative to expand fire protection.
The properties brought into Cranbrook’s fire protection area would be in Booth Creek, Westview Estates, Standard Hill and Gold Creek.
With Cranbrook council’s support, the move will now come before the RDEK board of directors in November to decide whether to proceed.
If the board approves the expansion, those 12 properties would be brought into Cranbrook Rural Fire Protection Area, which the RDEK contracts to Cranbrook Fire and Emergency Services.
The change has been suggested to ease individual requests from property owners seeking reductions to their insurance premiums.
In the past, the insurance industry recognized properties within eight kilometres of a fire hall as protected or semi protected, leading to lower insurance premiums.
Now, some insurance companies recognize homes within 13 kilometres of a fire hall as protected or semi protected.
Anticipating that most property owners would seek fire protection from Cranbrook individually, the RDEK decided to expand the fire department’s response boundaries all at once.
The 12 property owners do not yet have fire protection, but could soon if the RDEK board approves the decision.
