The new Skaha Hills development is looking for a fire department. In the meantime, it appears that the Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department will be filling the role.
Emergency Services Supervisor Dale Kronebusch told the Review he learned only late Friday afternoon that the RDOS was required to provide fire protection to the Skaha Hills subdivision, as it meets the criteria of an Existing Service Agreement between the Penticton Indian Band and the Regional District Okanagan Similkaeen.
“I have scheduled a legal advisement meeting with our lawyer tomorrow afternoon,” he said in an email to the Review, “ The area can fall under the response of Penticton Fire Department, but that still needs to be negotiated.”
Kronebusch said that he had been unable to provide that service coverage over the long weekend, pending a proper legal arrangement, so the KVFD was seen as a “logical problem solver”.
Although an expansion of Kaleden’s boundaries on a permanent basis was not initially under consideration, Kronebusch stated that it might be logical, as the response is right at the border of Kaleden’s eight kilometre response (limit).
“If you factor in the travel speed of using Highway 97 to get there, Kaleden FD will most likely arrive at Skaha Hills quicker than responding to other areas within their established area such as St. Andrews,” he stated.