Editor’s note: The article has been update to clarify that only the community hall is closed but fire hall remains open and functioning.
The 150 Mile House community hall, which is housed above the fire hall, has been closed by the Cariboo Regional District while it undergoes a B.C. building code assessment.
The fire hall and fire department remains open and functioning.
Last week the CRD announced in a Facebook post that during the COVID-19 pandemic when some CRD community halls were closed it came to light some of the fire halls in the district were being used for community recreation and meeting spaces such as the 150 Mile House Fire Hall.
CRD chief administrative officer Murray Daly told the Tribune Tuesday while the 150 fire hall can still be used for fire services, some immediate life safety items were identified during the code compliance assessment which impact the fire hall’s operation.
“We are working on addressing these to allow the continued occupancy by the fire department,” Daly said.
In the Facebook post, the CRD noted as the 150 Mile Fire Hall and Community Hall was built from inception as a dual-purpose facility, due diligence required the regional district to review each of its facilities to ensure that its approach on community use of fire halls was being applied equally to each fire department.
Since then, the regional district has conducted code compliance inspections of the facility to identify any issues that the dual occupancy present for both the fire department’s operations and the usage of the community hall space, the post noted.
Daly said the code compliance survey will determine the extent of non-compliance and will assist the CRD in developing a path forward for compliance.
Several compliance issues with the 150 Mile House Fire Hall were identified including life-safety concerns, he confirmed.
“We have retained the services of qualified professionals to assess these issues and identify options for remediating these concerns. We are working on addressing these to allow the continued occupancy by the fire department.”
Daly said he was unable to share too many specifics about the status of the 150 Mile hall at this time and confirmed there are similar issues with other halls such as the one in Deka Lake, which is also funded by the CRD.
“We are expecting information to be available in late fall 2023, which will provide better information with which decisions on remediation can be made.”
When contacted by the Tribune, Paul McCarthy, chief of the 150 Mile Fire Department, declined making a comment.
BC Assessment indicates the hall, which is located at 3038 Pigeon Road, was built in 1985.
READ MORE: UPDATE: CRD reviews security at local fire halls
READ MORE: CRD directors debate public use of fire halls
Editor’s note: The article has been update to clarify that only the community hall portion is closed.
monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter