Yarmouth fire hall upper space useable again after a decade of being off limits

When Gail Fitzgerald joined the Yarmouth Fire Department auxiliary in 2014, she never knew what it was like to have a fire hall space to work out of. And in the many years that followed, she still didn’t know.

The top floor of the Yarmouth fire hall was condemned, meaning no one was allowed in.

Not the firefighters. Not the auxiliary volunteers. Not the public.

It sat empty for a decade – impacting the department’s ability to host social and community events (that also served as fundraisers for it) and affecting the auxiliary’s ability to support the firefighters.

“Members were using their own homes to prepare for functions, such as the torchlight parade, as well as finding space in their own homes to store the auxiliary stuff,” Fitzgerald, the auxiliary’s president, says.

In 2010, the shutdown of the hall had started.

By 2011, it was completely off limits.

“During a long firefight, there was no place to cook for the firefighters,” Fitzgerald says. “Not even a place to serve coffee and tea from.”

Long-popular social and community uses – that had gone on for decades – had ceased. Weddings, dances, meetings, banquets, training space, Christmas parties – all gone.

But now that the space has been renovated and retrofitted, and as pandemic restrictions keep lifting, Fitzgerald and others see a new future.

“We can see meals being prepared in our updated kitchen. We can see the hall decorated for upcoming weddings and events and can image the joy in ringing in many New Years,” she says. “We are able to help our firefighters in the way we always wanted to.”

In 2020 the Town of Yarmouth moved forward with upgrades to the fire hall. Whereas before it was dark with a lot of orange accent, it is now a bright, fresh and functional space. The stairwell was refurbished. There were significant washroom upgrades, including the

Yarmouth Fire Department Chief Mike Deveau. addition of an accessible, barrier-free, universal private washroom that includes a changing table for babies and one for adults.

The kitchen and bar were renovated and a new HVAC system was installed.

Safety improvements were required to bring the space up to code. Extensive fire spray proofing involved spraying the underside of the steel structure and deck to provide a fire rating between the lower and upper floors. Exit stair construction was brought up to code. Fire separations and emergency lighting were installed.

The overall project cost to the town was $1.181 million. Garian Construction and its sub-contractors carried out the work.

As an aside, the work helped to keep people employed during the COVID pandemic.

“We now have something we can showcase and be proud of,” says Stewart Deveau, president of the Yarmouth Fire Department

“We now have something we can showcase and be proud of. We’ve been looking forward to this for many years.” Stewart Deveau Yarmouth Fire Department Volunteer Association president

Volunteer Association. “We’ve been looking forward to this for many years.”

A wedding event has already been held at the hall and five more are confirmed for next year. The space has been booked for a Christmas party this year.

Yarmouth Fire Chief Mike Deveau sees much new potential for the space.

“When there is an event or a natural disaster or a loss of power, this will become a comfort centre. We’re powered by generator, so this is