/MNRF base ready for April move-in 

MNRF base ready for April move-in 

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s emergency response base at the Stanhope Airport is on schedule for staff to move in by early April.

Control of the facility will be turned over to the ministry’s Aviation Forest Fire and Emergency Services division April 1 and a tentative move-in date for staff has been set for April 6.

Ministry staff will be relocating from the longtime ministry response headquarters in Haliburton Village.

“Construction of the new facility makes for more efficient services since firefighters will no longer have to travel between two locations to respond to wildfires” senior media relations officer Jolanta Kowalski told the paper.

Construction on the $12-million 17000-square-foot facility began in the summer of 2014. Nearly 60 ministry staff will work out of the building.

Algonquin Highlands township performed preparatory work at the site as part of an agreement with the province including the clearing of six hectares of trees and construction of new taxiways.