One week after packing their fire hall to argue for keeping it in service, Bright residents got the news they were hoping for.

Blandford-Blenheim township councillors voted unanimously Wednesday against a motion to close the fire station.

A consultant’s report had recommended the closure, finding that the Bright and Plattsville stations covered virtually the same geographic area, and closing Bright would not have a significant impact on response times.

At the same time, the consultant found, closing Bright’s station would save the township about $1 million in equipment replacement costs, as well as $18,000 on an annual basis.

The proposal brought about 100 residents of the small community out to a public meeting last week, where they spent hours arguing their case.

They voiced concerns ranging from slower responses to emergencies in Bright itself to people being less interested in moving to the community if it didn’t have a fire station.

Wednesday’s meeting was a scaled-down version of that affair, with about 50 people in attendance from Bright. They spent nearly an hour explaining again why they did not want their fire hall to close.

Following the vote, the Bright residents said that their emotions ran the gamut from “very glad” to “astounded”.

“I think we all came in here expecting that they already had a (decision) made to close the hall,” said one woman.

In addition to Bright and Plattsville, Blandford-Blenheim has fire stations in Drumbo and Princeton.

Firefighters at the Bright station are the first responders called to about 25 emergencies per year.

With reporting by Victoria Levy