By Charlene Tebbutt

Rural firefighting

Local RM looking at rural firefighting option

Feb 14, 2019 | 5:19 PM

Councillors in the Rural Municipality of Prince Albert are exploring the possibility of starting their own rural volunteer fire department, and have hired a consultant to study options.

RM councillors voted at their regular meeting Thursday to hire Jim Miller on a contract basis. Talks are still in the very early stages, but Tyler Hazelwood, chair of the RM’s fire review committee, said councillors want to know if having a rural fire department would mean better service for country residents.

Currently, firefighting services to the RM are contracted through the City of Prince Albert, but the agreement is set to expire at the end of 2019. Hazelwood said it’s a good time to look at other possibilities.

“We’re looking to meet the same protection, or exceed it,” Hazelwood told paNOW. “We’re not unhappy with the City of Prince Albert Fire Department, they’re an amazing fire department … we’re just looking into see if we can do it as well, a fire department more tailored to rural.”

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Miller, the former fire chief in the RM of Buckland, spoke about the idea at the meeting Thursday morning, saying a fire truck, pumps, training and fire gear would cost several hundred thousand dollars to get started, but the RM could likely take advantage of grants and fundraising to help cover some of the costs. The RM is planning a series of community meetings on the issue over the next few weeks to gauge public interest in the plan and possibly recruit new volunteers. A number of people have already expressed interest in volunteering as rural firefighters, councillors said.

“Right now, we’re just looking into it,” Hazelwood added. “We’ll make sure that it’s unanimous, that if we go forward, we’re going to provide better fire service for the whole RM, just better coverage overall.”

Facebook/RM of Prince Albert

(Photo: File photo/ paNOW Staff)

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Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt