‘Very impressive new facility’: Winnipeg’s newest fire-paramedic station now open

A new fire-paramedic station in Winnipeg is expected to increase response times in the city.

Winnipeg’s newest fire-paramedic station is officially in operation.

The city unveiled the new Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) Station #9 in Windsor Park.

WFPS Chief Christian Schmidt said this new station has been designed to fit how Winnipeg is growing.

“This particular station combines two different older stations; the previous Station #9 on Marion Street and the previous Station #15, which was on this exact site,” Schmidt said. “These two smaller stations had gotten older over time and had less space and capacity. This station places response efficiency and environmental efficiency at the forefront.”

The new station has five bays with a fire engine and crew. A rescue unit, the hazardous materials team, an ambulance and its crew, and a fire investigator are all housed at the station.

The station is also the first city building to have geothermal ground source heat pumps for both heating and cooling.

The building is expected to reduce emissions by 98.6 per cent compared to other buildings its size.

“The team has worked hard to reclaim wood from the previous buildings for use in this station and includes details down to ensuring that the shrubs around this property are drought resistant,” said Schmidt.

“This is a very impressive new facility. It’s one of the greenest buildings in the city’s inventory, and it’s going to help us deliver faster, more effective emergency service to Windsor Park and the surrounding neighbourhoods,” said Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham.

The $16 million building also features recovery ventilators, a training room, an air compressor, and bifold bay doors, which are supposed to reduce response times by 15 seconds.

“This reflects the kind of investment that we are making as a city and that our city needs to keep making as we grow - investments that strengthen public safety, public health, investments that modernize our infrastructure, investments that reduce our long-term impact on our environment,” said Gillingham.

This station is part of the WFPS master plan that came out in 2020, which highlights the need for stations in more strategic locations, which in turn will help with response times.