Residents of Tobiano and Cherry Creek who voted in a recent referendum have rejected a proposed expansion of fire protection service in the area.
The referendum was held to determine whether residents of Tobiano and Cherry Creek were in favour of creating a new joint Fire Protection Service Area, and borrowing to build a new fire hall that would serve both communities. The borrowing would also have covered the cost of purchasing firefighting apparatus and equipment for the expanded service area.
The new fire protection area would have included properties in the existing Tobiano Fire Protection Area — currently served by the Tobiano Volunteer Fire Department, which is operated by the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) — as well as properties in the neighbouring community of Cherry Creek, which does not have fire protection.
Qualified electors within the TNRD’s Electoral Area “J” (Copper Desert Country) were eligible to vote in the referendum, at an advance voting opportunity on June 11 and on voting day, June 21. The official results showed a total of 167 votes in favour of, and 326 votes against, the referendum question.
The TNRD has operated the fire department in Tobiano since 2018, when a Fire Protection Service Area was established for that community. A feasibility study conducted in spring 2022 showed that a proposed expansion of the fire protection area was operationally feasible, and that a good level of service for all properties in Cherry Creek and Tobiano could be provided if a fire hall could be located at a central point.
A non-binding community survey was conducted, with 81 completed surveys received and 63 per cent of the respondents in favour of the TNRD moving forward with a formal public assent vote for expanding fire protection to Cherry Creek. In fall 2024, the TNRD was successful in obtaining an agreement to purchase two acres of land subdivided from a larger property on Gardi Road near the Trans-Canada Highway for the construction of a new fire hall. The purchase was contingent on the outcome of the referendum, and will not go ahead.
TNRD Area “J” director Mike Grenier points out that the referendum was fulfilling the request of Cherry Creek residents after the community was threatened by the Tremont Creek wildfire in 2021.
“In 2022 we were asked by the people of Cherry Creek if the expansion of the Tobiano fire department was a possibility,” he notes. “Our staff put together an excellent proposal for consideration by people in Cherry Creek and Tobiano. They’ve made their decision, and we now have to move forward with the protection area we continue to serve.
“We now have a clear mandate to move forward. We’ve addressed the concern of Cherry Creek back in 2022 that they be asked the question.”
The Tobiano fire department operates out of maintenance shop space leased from the Tobiano golf course. The space is not adequate for long-term operation of a fire department, and in 2018 Tobiano residents approved borrowing the funds required to build a fire hall. This was never done, and the approval for that borrowing has now expired. Grenier says that the TNRD is now “very focused” on the Tobiano area, but there is no timeline as to when a dedicated fire hall will be designed and built.
As for the results of the referendum, Grenier notes that it means Cherry Creek remains as it was in terms of fire protection.
“We know that a community of the size of Cherry Creek with its assessment base cannot afford, on its own, a fire hall. People within Cherry Creek have said that they’re considering creating a society that might train some sort of a fire brigade that might be able to work alongside BC Wildfire Service.
“But I don’t think anyone should be under any misunderstanding. If there is a structural fire in Cherry Creek, there isn’t a response that’s going to take place from a TNRD fire department, because that area is simply unprotected.”
