Bracebridge is waiting to look for property for the Vankoughnet fire station until construction of a new Station 1 in Bracebridge has been completed.

The Vankoughnet station, which houses many resources and is often used as a backup for the fire station in Bracebridge, is located 32 kilometres out of town.  The town is seeking to relocate the station closer to Bracebridge as part of a larger plan following a 2009 report that showed how much the density, demographics and activity had changed since the fire stations were built more than 25 years earlier.  The town then decided to develop plans to upgrade its two fire stations, Station 1 on Dominion Street in Bracebridge and Station 2 in Vankoughnet.

A 400-square-foot addition was built onto the Vankoughnet fire station in 2012 to address some of the hall's shortcomings, but Fire Chief Murray Medley said the $50,000 for the project was part of a longer-term vision.

"The addition we put in wasn't fire hall specific but also to make it more resalable if we needed to resell the property," he said.

Though the town isn't actively looking for a new location, Bracebridge CAO John Sisson said they will consider options if a suitable property arises, even if it is before Station 1 is completed.

Land for a new Station 2 property was originally expected to be purchased in 2012, but due to the delays with Station 1, the purchase has been extended by several years.

from the Bracebridge Examiner