Fire supression equipment added to new highrises

As Kelowna’s skyline changes, and buildings get taller, the risk of catastrophic highrise fire is also rising.

That’s why the city’s brand new skyscrapers have to include features that are designed to help firefighters do their job.

The brand new 26-story Waterscapes Skye Tower is the tallest building in Kelowna.

It is one of three new highrises that contain a number of state-of-the-art fire safety features.

The building even has its own fire pump, located in a specially designed room.

The pump ensures that fire crews won’t have to worry about finding hydrants outside the building or calling in pumper trucks.

They will be able to connect their hoses to high-pressure pipes that run throughout the structure.

There is also an equipment storage room on every seventh floor, containing hoses, breathing apparatus, and other firefighting gear.

Kelowna Fire Chief Rene Blanleil says it costs $8-10 thousand to equip every storage room, but developers have generally been very willing to bear the cost.

Blanleil says it can take 10-15 minutes for firefighters to haul their gear to the top of a tall building.

If gear is located at strategic locations around the building it will enable firefighters to get to work much faster.

In 2008, when a number of highrise projects were announced for Kelowna, the City implemented a new bylaw that requires developers to add extra fire safety features.

The changes do not affect older, existing buildings.