The Cluculz Lake volunteer fire department is looking for more volunteers after numbers reached a worrying low point this summer.
“The fire department has for several years seen a decline in our volunteers and we hit a point this summer where we were down to about eight members,” said Tanya Spooner, acting Fire Chief for the Cluculz Lake Fire Department.
After a volunteer recruitment push during the last few months, the department has trained up another three members bringing numbers slightly up to 11. Another three members of the public have also shown an interest in volunteering this fall.
“So hopefully we will be up to 14 members soon but we are certainly taking more volunteers if they show up,” said Spooner.
During the summer the fire department only had three call-outs, none of which were fire related.
“All of those were either motor vehicle incidents or a request to assist with ambulance for medical so we’ve been incredibly fortunate in that regard,” said Spooner.
The department is planning on holding its annual general meeting in October at which point a permanent solution will be created for the position of fire chief.
“It may be me that becomes the full-time fire chief but I certainly can’t guarantee that,” said Spooner.
She added that a full compliment of volunteer firefighters would be between 20-30 members.
“That would allow us to give protection during the day and would reduce the stress on the people who volunteer already.
“However the increase we’ve had just in the last few months has made a huge difference,” she added.
If people are interested in volunteering for the Cluculz Lake Fire Department they can call Tanya Spooner on 250-441-3401 or Gail Poisson on 250-441-3222. At present volunteers are training every second Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the fire hall at Cluculz Lake.