Squamish Fire Rescue annual volunteer recruitment gets underway with open fire practice

More members needed in the Downtown and southern neighbourhoods of Squamish; recruitment nights scheduled

Squamish Fire Rescue will kick off its annual recruitment program with a highly visual “open practice” designed to inspire more Squamish residents to serve their community as a volunteer on-call firefighter. The open fire practice will take place at Squamish Elementary School on Wednesday, September 21 from 7 to 9 p.m. and will feature exercises involving ladders, forest fire fighting and an obstacle course.

In addition to the open fire practice, two recruitment information sessions are being held on Monday, September 26 and Thursday, October 6 at 7 p.m. to highlight what is involved in becoming an on-call firefighter. Both sessions will be held at Firehall “No. 1”, 37890 Clarke Drive.

This year’s recruitment drive is particularly focused on residents from Downtown and the southern neighbourhoods of Squamish.

“Downtown Squamish in particular has seen a considerable amount of recent growth and we need to address this by increasing our volunteer recruits from the south end of town,” says Squamish Fire Rescue Chief Bill Stoner. “Our goal is to increase our volunteer members, particularly in Downtown Squamish and Valleycliffe areas, so that our two fire halls will be equal in size over the next five years.”

Squamish Fire Rescue serves a local population of approximately 20,000 residents over 120 square kilometres. In 2015, 51 volunteer firefighters logged more than 4,066 hours of on-call response in addition to 2,272 hours of training.

“This is an incredible opportunity to serve and protect our community in a meaningful way through education and emergency response,” says District of Squamish Mayor Patricia Heintzman. “We are thankful for the ongoing dedication and service our volunteer members contribute to maintain the safety of the District of Squamish, and also grateful to the many local employers who support the volunteer force by allowing time off.”

New recruits are required to make a minimum three-year commitment to Squamish Fire Rescue. All training and materials are provided.

For more about Squamish Fire Rescue and the recruitment process visit squamish.ca/recruitment.

September 19, 2016

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