AUGUST 2026 Knappett Industries was ultimately awarded the contract. As a locally based company with an office in the Comox Valley, they met the criteria on price and reputation alike. Construction commenced in December 2025, and the project is on track for completion in December 2026. According to Bruce, the impact of the finished product will extend well beyond simply housing bigger trucks. Fire underwriting surveys – the assessments that determine a community’s public protection grading – require departments to maintain modern equipment and apparatus that meet specific length and capability requirements. Without a facility that can house those engines, the CVRD risks losing its fire protection ratings altogether, and that would have direct consequences for residents. “If we’re not able to properly maintain equipment and acquire newer fire engines, that public protection grading will disappear,” Bruce explains, “and then the ability for residents to get reduced insurance rates on their homes and properties would probably go by the wayside – which is a potentially huge economic downturn for the residents. The fire hall may be costing the residents of Union Bay some money over the next 20 years, but there will be a net benefit to them with their savings on fire insurance and continued emergency responses from the fire department.”
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