On the outside, the Rollingdam Fire Department may not look different, but on the inside there is about 24 inches (two feet) which will create room for a much-needed piece of equipment.
A new fire truck purchased by the province was too high for the clearance to be stored inside the building.
In April 2025, Local Government Minister Aaron Kennedy and Public Safety Minister Robert Gauvin visited the fire department alongside St. Croix MLA Kathy Bockus to discuss some of the department’s concerns.
“They addressed the problem, which was very good of them to do that,” Ivan Noddin, Rollingdam Fire Chief, said. “They came in and realized how much … bigger it was going to be, so we bought an engineer he designed a plan for how to do it, and the contractor stepped up and they went at it, and by the end of the summer everything was complete and … they’ve done a real good job.”
Crews worked on bracing the rafters in order to lift the roof in one section of the building.
“They call them 114 Severe Duty Freightliner and because it’s bigger and higher and the body is going to be a little higher so that’s why we had to go the extra two feet,” he said, speaking with The Courier.
Its current pumper truck, which also carries water, has passed the end of its useful life.
“We’ve had the tank out three times now to be repaired so we’re just waiting for the day for it to happen again. We had the pump tested and the pump failed, Noddin said. “There is a capacity that the pump must do and it didn’t do it. It still pumps water … but it’s gone to the point that it’s and is getting very rusty underneath. It’s about 38 years old so it’s done its time.”
It is unclear when the truck might arrive, but it is being manufactured by New Brunswick-based company, MetalFab.
But Noddin isn’t the only one excited about upgrades.
Just down the road in Lawrence Station, the government is investing roughly $100,000 for upgrades to the fire hall’s heating system and other maintenance.
“There is a $100,000 of a capital allocation this year for fire hall maintenance and a new heating system,” said Local Government Minister Aaron Kennedy during main estimates last week at the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick.
Marked in the cement is
September 1997 is marked in cement showing where the first part of the building was constructed.
Deputy Fire Chief John Cliff said this is welcome news.
“The furnace was put in 2002, so it’s aging,” he said. “Everything’s aging in the building and this money is an investment for the government [in] their assets.”
The current heating system is operated by oil, and Cliff explained the upgrades would be to improve energy efficiency.
He said there are plenty of things at the fire hall that could use some of that money, but the full details are still being ironed out.
Both Noddin and Cliff are pleased the government is recognizing the needs of rural fire departments, which are often responsible for large catchment areas.
“We’re rural, we’re way out in the woods. We have 15 or 16 volunteers,,” he said. “When the alarm goes [off], we’re going, [it] doesn’t matter what time of day it is. It means a lot that the government is going to put money back into their assets.”
Noddin said it was impressive to see two ministers visit.
“We struggle day-to-day with finances and keeping up [the] roster and stuff like that and that to me showed that they do actually want to help us out and they did a very good job,” he said.
