Westlock’s town fire department has a healthy roster of firefighters, but chief Stuart Koflick said there is always room for improvement.
“Do we have enough members? Certainly,” Koflick said. “Could we use more? Absolutely.”
Currently, the department boasts 21 firefighters plus Koflick. However, he said he would love that number grow larger.
“I like to shoot for 30,” he said. “I’d be happy if I got 25 members on call.”
Having 20 members gives Koflick some flexibility, as well as allows the department to continue to provide high quality service.
“To have a crew of six firefighters on scene in eight minutes or less, we meet the standard for that,” he said.
If the complement drops too low, he said it could mean delayed response times, or even create the need to call in county or Barrhead firefighters through the town’s mutual aid agreements.
Increasing the complement to 25 or more would have the added benefit of allowing firefighters more time with their families through the summer.
The current arrangement is an on-call rotation in the summer months, Koflick said. More members would mean fewer teams would need to be on call, as there would be more people to fill in the duty slots.
There are two types of members Koflick is always recruiting — regular members and junior members ages 16-18.
Regular members need only meet a few criteria to be part of the department, he said. They must be 18 or older, have a clean criminal record, be physically fit and willing to commit the time necessary.
That time commitment includes attending at least 50 per cent of all training and response calls, a requirement that is reviewed quarterly.
Training is every Thursday for three hours. The time is used to grow team unity, as well as learn techniques that are necessary to successfully put out a fire, Koflick said.
“We need to effectively build teamwork, mentoring and come together as a team,” he said. “If you miss too much training, that can prove to be a distraction to our organization.”
Junior members, on the other hand, have virtually the same responsibilities as regular members when it comes to training, but they cannot respond to calls in an emergency capacity — they can only be on scene in a supporting role.
Koflick described the junior firefighter role as one that is a stepping-stone to a successful future.
“We instill leadership in youth,” he said.
“We instill the potential career in youth, provide them with the training so when they’re 18 years old we have a trained and competent firefighter that we can add to our arsenal of first responders.”
Out in the county, fire chief John Biro said the entire department has seen a recent up tick in signups, but he would still like to see more members at each of the fire halls around the county.
He pointed out the Clyde and Westlock Rural departments as especially in need.
“They are busy departments, especially in spring and fall,” Biro said. “They have a big area and a lot of forested area.”
