Tantramar Fire Services is considering purchasing 12 new radios for Sackville and Dorchester to address a shortage and modernize their communications.
Council passed a motion at the Sept. 28 committee of the whole meeting to add the over $58,000 purchase to the consent agenda for the next regular council meeting on Oct. 13.
While more firefighter-friendly options are available, their price is prohibitive, so staff are recommending a cheaper option, said Dan Dupuis, director of protective services for Tantramar.
“ We need numbers right now. It’s dangerous to operate a fire scene with not enough radios right now, and we’re kind of at that.”
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Dupuis noted that the Point de Bute Fire Department has no such shortage.
The recommendation to council is to purchase 12 APX 5000 trunk mobile radios from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. First put on the market in 2006, each unit costs $4,855.20 plus HST. The total cost for all 12 is $58,262.40 before taxes.
The 2026 budget included a line item for around $75,000 for the purchase of radios.
When Deputy Mayor Josh Goguen asked why a 20-year-old model was chosen, Dupuis again said it came down to finances, but assured council the new radios would have a long service life.
“ The vendor told me that if…they said, ‘okay, we’re not making it anymore,’ they will still (provide) service and parts for the next 10 years.”
As it stands, Tantramar fire services use two even older APX models—the 2000, which is obsolete and difficult to find parts for, and the 4000, which is also no longer in production, though parts and service remain available.
Over the next five years or so, Dupuis said those models will slowly be replaced piecemeal by the more expensive APX 6000XE.
The XE means they are designated for extreme environments, said Dennis Reid, captain of the Dorchester Fire Department. He spoke to council about the radios and said while the 5000 and 6000XE were quite similar, the 6000XE was better suited to firefighters, especially when working in gloves on a scene.
“ The real difference in those radios moving forward…(is) the 5000s are not as impact-resistant,” said Reid. “And it may sound like a simple thing, but in terms of (being) user-friendly, the knobs on the top are smaller. Significantly smaller.”
While the 6000XE is the preferred option, it costs around $4,000 more per unit, so the municipality couldn’t purchase enough to fill the current need. And, unlike the recommended option, they are not currently available for purchase from the provincial government, said Dupuis.
“ Not only that, if we do spend all this on these radios—we’re not even talking about pagers, we’re not talking about batteries, we’re not talking about headsets.”
In the 2025 budget, Sackville Fire and Rescue proposed buying six APX 8000XE radios, but they were never purchased.
It was also noted that staff are trying to procure more APX 4000 radios from the government. Though there is no guarantee, Tantramar Fire Services has been added to the list of fire services looking to receive them.
