Fire Protection

Currently both Fire Departments (FDs) on Texada are unable to attend fires outside the Improvement District (ID) boundaries, unless called in by Forestry. Forestry will not act on fires or request FD assistance until the fire has spread to the forest. This means valuable time is wasted, which could lead to a disastrous situation.

We are looking at increasing the area of Van Anda Improvement District (VAID) to provide more fire protection to our community. More properties with ID Fire Protection means improved fire safety for the whole Island. Gillies Bay boundaries were recently amended to include 3 more properties that now have fire protection.

The Fire Departments of Van Anda and Gillies Bay have an agreement in place for immediate response to fires in both IDs. Fires within the boundaries of either ID are attended to by both FDs without delay.

If the VAID boundaries are amended to include your property, the resulting fire protection will significantly decrease your house insurance. There will however be an increase to your Rural Property Tax (RPT), which is expected to be much less than the resulting insurance savings. The addition to your RPT will be your portion of the budgeted annual costs for the FD, which are collected as “ID Fire Protection Tax”. This budget is created by VAID Administration & Trustees with input from the Fire Chief, approved by the VAID Board, then submitted to Provincial Government for further approval. Individual owner’s rates are determined by property value.

The process of increasing the VAID area starts with property owners completing a form called “Petition to Extend a Boundary” (click to view). The completed form is approved by VAID Trustees then submitted by VAID to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs’ Governance and Structure Branch for the next step. The entire process can vary in time from two months to a year, and an agreement can be made between the property owners who have applied and VAID to provide temporary fire protection until the amendment is complete.

If you would like your property included, complete the top half of the first page of the Application form and return it as soon as possible to the VAID office or Fire Chief Mark Robert. If you do not have your PID and Legal Description readily available, contact the office for assistance. The address required on the application is the street address (not your mailing address) and it is appreciated if you include your mailing address, phone number, and email.

Please contact us if you have any questions – email contact@vananda-id.ca or phone 604-486-7035.