New gear-cleaning machine to rapidly decontaminate hard-surface gear for Parksville Fire Rescue personnel (Parksville Fire Rescue)

By Ian Holmes

firefighting funding

Parksville Fire Rescue benefits from new gear-cleaning devices

Nov 7, 2025 | 1:15 PM

PARKSVILLE — New additions to the Parksville Fire Rescue (PFR) downtown hall are more efficiently cleaning potentially harmful contaminant threats facing firefighters.

PFR chief Marc Norris said in the late summer a new advanced decontamination machine, resembling a commercial grade washing machine, was installed in a storage room of their Jensen Ave. facility.

Norris said the device allows hard-surface gear items like helmets, breathing tanks and air cylinders to be thoroughly cleaned following call-outs involving fire, smoke and a variety of hazardous materials.

“It’s saving us some time, it’s providing for better and more consistent cleaning across all of the pieces of equipment,” Norris told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Marc Norris said this cleaning machine can rapidly decontaminate equipment in five to 10 minutes. (PFR)

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The enhanced cleaning meets BC Structure Firefighter Minimum Training Standards, according to PFR.

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Norris said a $40,000 grant from the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) was successfully obtained earlier this year to purchase the rapid cleaning machine.

He added a separate grant paid for two specialized washing machines for soft gear, such as coats, pants, and coveralls.

Serving a growing city, along with increased mutual aid responsibilities, chief Norris noted these types of enhancements to improve safety and bolster internal cleaning efficiencies are important additions.

“With that comes more calls for service and with more calls service comes more fires and other incidents where we may be required to decontaminate and then tend to our equipment and our gear afterwards.”

Norris said their department’s funding request this year under the UBCM’s emergency preparedness training and equipment stream is to purchase a gear-drying cabinet.

However, Norris said the future of the fund beyond next year is in doubt.

“If it does not continue obviously that is going to have an effect on fire departments of our size and smaller.”

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