Construction is now officially underway on the new fire hall in Blumenort. A sod turning ceremony took place Wednesday at the site along Penner Drive, south of Granny's.

"This is a great day for everybody involved," says Hanover Councillor Bob Brandt. "This fire station has been a long time coming."

Back in 2016, council made the decision that Blumenort would make sense as the location for a fourth hall in Hanover.

"Blumenort's a growing community, it's a large population," says Reeve Stan Toews, explaining why Blumenort was selected. "They also have a lot of commercial entities, so we thought it was a good fit."

Brandt notes there has been huge commercial and residential growth in Blumenort over the last 15 years. He says with between 1,400 and 1,500 jobs in Blumenort, the community needs fire protection.

According to Hanover Fire Chief Paul Wiebe, the hall will be 6,400 square feet in size. It will house a pumper, tanker and rescue unit. There will also be office space, a training room, bathroom and shower facilities, locker rooms and a mezzanine.

Even though construction of the hall is expected to be complete in late 2018, Wiebe says they won't begin responding to calls until probably next spring. That is because of how long it takes for the trucks to be built.

Meanwhile, Wiebe says they started with 18 recruits and currently have 16 that will complete their level one training.

"We have found some really quality people and we're just excited to have them part of our team," says Wiebe.

Leo Penner, Chair for the Blumenort Local Urban District committee says it is not surprising to see people interested in being volunteer firefighters.

"That does not surprise me at all," says Penner. "I think people are excited about it. There's a lot of young guys living in town here which are capable of operating the fire station."

Construction of the hall is expected to cost about $2.95 million.

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