The Pembina Valley is banding together to provide better fire protection for rural homeowners and businesses.

With continued development in the RM of Stanley, the RM along with both Winkler and Morden Fire Departments have been working together in order increase the area's firefighting capabilities.

The Manitoba building code and fire code requires a designated amount of water flow to a particular building known as a fire flow water supply.

A residential single-family home requires 100 litres per second, for a period of an hour, whereas a commercial building or industrial facility requires more, explains Morden Fire Chief Andy Thiessen. "Part of the code is that each of these commercial buildings needs to have enough water fire flow for a three hour period to sustain proper fire suppression."

The RM has been looking into options on how to obtain the proper fire flow levels as some areas have the correct levels while others do not. One of the options discussed between the three groups is the purchase of a new tanker.

"This all kind of originated from development happening and us being able to provide proper water supply for fighting fires," says Winkler Fire Chief Richard Paetzold. "Additional tanker capacity would definitely make life way less stressful for me, even at house fires."

Without enough fire flow for many rural areas fire departments have had to adapt to compensate. A fire line is placed and water is used to keep the fire behind that line, conserving water and protecting what hasn't already been engulfed in flames. When it comes to commercial buildings, firefighters need a certain amount of water just to stop an advancing fire and a second tanker would add that much-needed reservoir.

Stanley has also received a grant for $40,000 from Enbridge Pipelines towards the purchase of a new tanker.