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KAMLOOPS – Tender for construction of the new Provincial
Wildfire Coordination Centre building will be issued next week, Forests and
Range Minister Pat Bell announced today.
“The new state-of-the art building will incorporate
the latest technological advances and show how B.C. continues to live up to its
reputation of global excellence when it comes to fighting fires,” said Bell.
The Provincial Wildfire Coordination Centre is the
nerve centre for co-ordination of wildfire management for the entire province.
The new building will be ready for occupancy by the 2010 fire season. Provincial
air tanker staff will be operating out of temporary buildings for the 2009 fire
season while the new building is under construction.
The closing date for tenders is
mid-May, and it is expected that the contract for construction will be awarded in
June. The project will assist the local construction industry during the
building period, and is estimated to create 22 direct jobs for the City of
Kamloops. Government has budgeted in excess of $3 million to construct the new
building and make capital improvements to the Kamloops tanker base.
“The
people of the Thompson Valleys know too well the devastation that wildfires can
cause,” said Kevin Krueger, MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson. “The provincial
Air Tanker Centre has been here for over a dozen years, and we welcome the
expansion of fire coordination services in Kamloops.”
This new facility will see the consolidation of the
provincial Wildfire coordination including aviation services, fire weather
forecasting, and the existing airtanker dispatch. This move is expected to
greatly improve operational effectiveness over its current location in Victoria.
Kamloops was selected as a logical location for these services as it already is
home to the provincial Air Tanker Centre, and the Kamloops Fire Centre, and
closer to the most active area for wildfires in the province.
Co-ordination of services in Kamloops will assist
the program in moving ahead with key strategic improvements, particularly in
staff recruitment and integrated business processes all aimed to reduce costs
and improve efficiencies.
A copy of the construction tender package will be
available at www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca
online.
This project is part of an overall $14-billion
capital infrastructure program supported by the Province that will create up to
88,000 jobs and help build vital public infrastructure in every region of the
province.
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Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-4592 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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