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Elko Volunteer Firefighter recruitment drive kicks off
Members of the South Country Fire Service will be in the community of Elko Tuesday evening as the Elko Fire Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment Drive gets underway.
“We will have some of our volunteers from the Jaffray and Baynes Lake Departments out in the community doing a door to door awareness campaign, answering questions and providing information,” explains Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) South Country Fire Services Fire Chief Dave Boreen. “We also have two community presentations lined up at the Elko Community Hall – one on Wednesday evening and one on Saturday morning to help get the word out and encourage people to fill out application forms.”
Wednesday, February 4, they are hosting a beef-on-a-bun community dinner from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. with a short presentation at 6:30 p.m. about being a volunteer fire fighter for the new Elko Fire Department.
On Saturday, February 7, there will be an equipment expo from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. with trucks and equipment on display, followed by a presentation at 10:30 a.m. “Both events are free and open to the entire community. We will be having colouring pages for the kids and we would like to see a strong turnout from the community.”
The new Elko Fire Department is still in the early stages of development. The most critical need right now is to have volunteers signed up and getting trained.
“Without enough committed volunteers, there will be no fire service,” stresses Boreen. “Once volunteers submit their application packages, they can begin training right away and we will have them do both an online training component as well as hands-on training with our other two departments in the South Country.”
Application forms are available on the RDEK’s website and at the Jaffray Fire Hall, along with a number of community members in Elko. Packages will also be available during the door-to-door campaign, and at both community events next week.
The deadline for applications to be submitted is February 20.
In addition to securing volunteers for the department, the RDEK will be gathering the equipment needed and constructing a new fire hall. Until all these pieces are in place, there is no fire protection in Elko. The RDEK hopes to have the fire protection service established in the fall of 2015.
RDEK
