Missing fire hydrant delays renovations at Molonglo rural station

A bungled shed renovation that dragged on due to a lacking fire hydrant meant Molonglo rural fire brigade's tankers had to be stored off-site in West Belconnen.

Rural fire fighting capabilities in Molonglo were not compromised despite some of the tankers and other equipment being temporarily housed in another location, the Emergency Services Agency said.

The shed upgrade at the Molonglo rural fire station is over budget and seven months overdue because it needs a fire hydrant.

Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman, who said rural fire fighting capabilities were not impacted by the Molonglo shed renovation bungle.Credit: Jamila Toderas

Renovations expanded the shed’s floor area, which meant an external fire hydrant had to be installed under requirements in the Australian building code.

In a response to questions filed in the Legislative Assembly, Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman said Molonglo’s trucks had been temporarily housed at the West Belconnen fire station while renovations were completed.

“During the upgrade, two heavy tankers, two medium tankers, and one command vehicle were housed at West Belconnen … as agreed with ACT Fire and Rescue,” Mr Gentleman said.

“The tankers were accessible to the [ACT Rural Fire Service] throughout the renovations.”

Despite this shuffle, the Molonglo community had not been placed at any risk in the event of a fire, Mr Gentleman said.

“Once the fire hydrant is installed, a full certificate of occupancy can be issued,” he said.

“The community can be assured that at no time during the renovations has the capability of the Molonglo brigade been compromised, and I thank the volunteer members for their patience while the works were undertaken.”

The ACT Rural Fire Service was still able to access and use the tankers at all times, Mr Gentleman said.

Temporarily moving the trucks out of Molonglo and into West Belconnen had even provided the opportunity for shared training drills, Mr Gentleman said.

There were currently two tankers stored at Molonglo, with "additional resources" housed at West Belconnen, the Emergency Services Agency said.

The government initially expected a full certificate of occupancy would be granted for the building in December 2017.

Although a partial occupancy certificate had been issued in December, the full occupancy certificate would not be granted until August 2018, an emergency services spokeswoman said.

The partial occupancy certificate allowed the building to continue being used for meetings throughout the renovations, the spokeswoman said.

“Access to the meeting/training facilities has not been restricted while the additional works are carried out to install the fire hydrant,” the spokeswoman said.

“Molonglo ACT Rural Fire Service has been kept engaged and informed during the project.”

Mr Gentleman had earlier predicted the certificate would be granted in July.

The installation of the external fire hydrant cost an additional $83,000, on top of more than $1 million that had already been spent on the project.

A Commonwealth disaster resilience grant contributed $600,000 towards the project, while the ESA paid $550,000 and would foot the bill for the hydrant installation.