By Steve Hubrecht 

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If you have an interest in helping your community, are reasonably fit, and don’t mind a bit of training, you may want to become a firefighter. 

The Columbia Valley Rural Fire and Rescue Services (CVFRS) is in the midst of its fall recruitment drive, making it a great time to join the team.

The CVFRS encompasses the Windermere, Fairmont, Edgewater and Panorama fire departments.

Across those four departments there are a total of 65 firefighters, Fire Chief Drew Sinclair told the Pioneer. “Right now, we’re at normal or higher than normal numbers, but we are always looking for more in each department,” he said.

If you don’t know the first thing about putting out fires, don’t fret.  “No experience is needed to join. We provide the training, and we support new recruits through the learning process,” said Sinclair.

The CVFRS does a recruitment drive each fall, in part because much of the structural firefighting training that prospective crew members need to be able to combat blazing buildings occurs over the winter.

Of course, would-be recruits are also welcome to join the fire crews at other times, and can take part in wildland firefighting training, rescue training, and medical first responder training that happens in the spring, summer and fall.

The CVFRS recruitment drive along with similar efforts by the Invermere Fire Rescue department normally result in a combined class of 10 to 15 new recruits in the winter training course.

That may seem like a healthy number of newbies, but that’s usually about what’s needed to keep the status quo as Sinclair noted, “we do get a lot of turnover.”

The turnover has nothing to do with the nature of firefighting, but “due to the local economy and housing situation,” explained Sinclair. “We get people who move here, want to make a go of it here long-term, and are eager to give back to the community, but come the spring they can’t secure housing, or sometimes can’t get full-time jobs that allow them to afford to live here, and they have to leave . . . housing and the economy are the challenges, that’s why we do lose people from the service.”

In this respect the fire department is not alone, with similar challenges besetting almost every single sector and volunteer organization up and down the Columbia Valley in recent years as a housing crunch has taken hold.

Turnover varies year to year, and it does affect each fire crew, but it is perhaps a little more prevalent at the Panorama fire department, which Sinclair chalked up to the especially seasonal nature of life at a ski hill community where many people arrive to work for a winter or two and then move elsewhere. This means that their volunteering is also often just for a year or two in length.

On the flip side, firefighters who do manage to carve out a permanent life in the Columbia Valley keep volunteering for a long time.

“Once they get established, most people are happy to stay with (the fire departments) for quite some time,” outlined Sinclair, noting there are many firefighters with 20-plus or 10-plus years of experience on their crews.

 “There are many benefits to joining a department, including incredible personal and leadership development, lifesaving first aid skills, and the reward of knowing you are helping your community,” he said. “In addition, our firefighters receive on-call pay and are eligible for extended benefits.”

The recruitment drive runs until October 31. Application forms are available on the RDEK’s website (www.rdek.bc.ca) and at local fire halls. For more information contact CVFRS at 250-342-6214.