The city, province and Ottawa will announce today they plan to spend $15 million to relocate two aging fire-paramedic stations, replace a third and build a brand-new station to serve Sage Creek, the biggest trouble spot on the city's response-time map.

In February, city council approved a motion to ask private construction firms for proposals for the first phase of a long-term Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service plan to upgrade its aging stations, many of which are either too expensive to maintain or located in places no longer considered ideal for emergency-response purposes.

Only $2.9 million exists in the city's budget to accomplish the job, but all three levels of government are expected to announce a deal to finance the entire project, likely as public-private partnerships.

The upgrades involve the relocation of Station 11 in St. James and Station 12 in River Heights. Station 18 in Charleswood will be rebuilt on its current site.

A new Station 27 will rise on Sage Creek Boulevard between Lagimodiere Boulevard and Burning Glass Road to serve the new south St. Boniface community of Sage Creek.

St. Boniface Coun. Dan Vandal, who has been pushing for the new fire station since he returned to council in 2006, said he is thrilled to see the project come to fruition.

"I'm glad it's coming forward. It's a couple of years late, but I'm very happy," said Vandal, who has feared the consequences of a serious fire in the outlying neighbourhood.

In addition to the four new fire paramedic stations planned for this year, the WFPS has five other projects slated for completion in 2012 and 2013. They include a new station in Waverley West, the rebuilding of Station 4 on Osborne Street and the relocations of Station 13 in Crescentwood, Station 15 in Windsor Park and Station 19 in St. James.

"It's the largest investment in Winnipeg's fire-prevention infrastructure in 60 years," said Alex Forrest, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg. "We've worked for a long time to get the fire halls going. I wish we had an election year every year."

When city council approved the upgrades in February, there was some skepticism about whether the first round of stations would actually get built this year. Forrest credited Mayor Sam Katz for ensuring the construction will happen.

"Sam has always been supportive. The election just moved things forward," Forrest said.

The work needs to be done regardless of any election. According to a Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service report, roughly one-third of the city's 31 fire paramedic stations are "reaching the end of their practical application life" or are located in places "no longer deemed acceptable by today's emergency-response standards."

None of the buildings is actually falling apart, but maintenance costs for some of them are skyrocketing to the point replacement makes more sense than repairs.

"They're getting to the point where their heating systems are less and less efficient and we're having to put more and more money in to maintain roofs," deputy chief Reid Douglas said in February.

WINNIPEG - Those stairways on the backs of buildings are called fire escapes, but you’ll seldom see a firefighter use one.
Too dangerous.

"Firefighters don’t trust them and won’t use them," Alex Forrest, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg union, said. They especially stay away from the fire escapes if they seem rickety.

They’ll use their ladders instead.

And the ones that firefighters across North America avoid most of all are the ones with a counter-balance stairway that folds up when it’s not needed — to deny burglars as easy route — but drop to the ground when the weight of a human trips the counter-balance.

Which brings us to the case of the five Transcona hotel residents who stepped out back for a smoke last weekend.