Large ladder for L’ile-des-Sœurs :APRIDS worries about further delay @S>Pierre Vigneault

Last night, February 10, this issue had to be discussed during an information session that took place in the Elgar Community Centre. As the newspaper had gone to press at the time this meeting took place, it was impossible to report in this issue the comments made by the residents or by members of Borough Council. However, there is no doubt that APRIDS reminded everyone at the meeting that currently, there is only one pump truck on the island. In his communiqué, Mr. Jobin pointed out that when an alert goes off in a high rise, Montreal’s ladder trucks often arrive in the island past the prescribed time, and this situation is particularly alarming on the southern tip where retirees live in buildings with several floors.

In 2008, APRIDS had undertaken measures with the Montreal Fire Department to request that the island be provided with the appropriate minimum equipment. In January 2009, the Department’s director announced to the Association that the island’s fire station will be expanded and that a ladder-truck would be installed by the end of that year. To-date nothing has been done.

APRIDS initiated this project, but the Montreal Fire Department just announced that for various technical and urban-planning reasons, this project cannot be completed until 2011. The budget, believed to be in the works, should be authorised soon, based on the February 3 e-mail sent by Director Serge Tremblay to the president of APRIDS. In its February 18 issue, Le Magazine will report on the details and other information that the Fire Department released during the February 10 meeting.

APRIDS deplores these postponements and is concerned about the project’s potential financing delays. It reminded attendees that in the event an unfortunate gas leak occurs or fire breaks out in a high-rise building, there’s a strong chance that ladder-trucks coming from the island of Montreal could arrive late, especially during rush hour.