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New members needed

Town of Westlock hopes to add at least five new firefighters over the next two years
WEB 2018 Recruitng Poster
New firefighters are needed for the town and county departments — the town hopes to add five new members by 2021.

WESTLOCK - Finding, and ultimately keeping new firefighters remains an ongoing challenge for all fire departments within the borders of Westlock County.

Town of Westlock director of emergency management/town fire chief Stuart Koflick and Westlock County protective services manager John Biro both agree that recruitment is an ongoing challenge made tougher by a host of reasons ranging from the stagnant COVID-19 economy, to an aging population and the fact people are more transient due to work.

“It varies from year to year, but we’re always looking for new members. With the economy the way it is now though it’s really tough all the way around,” said Biro.

The town’s ranks have been particularly hit hard over the past year following the retirement of captain Bill Smith, while the Plamondon family (Joanne was a lieutenant, while her husband Darcy and son Jesse were firefighters) moved out of the community.

“We have a complement of 14 firefighters from me right on down to the junior firefighters. My goal is to recruit another five members for 2021 and then the following year if we can retain those and gain one or two … that’s our two-year plan to bring our roster up to 20,” said Koflick, who noted that in the past week he’s received two promising applications.

“But even if we gain five members next month they’re still really a year away from being able to function on the fire ground independently.”

But both men say the public can rest assured there’s enough men and women to do the job. Mutual aid agreements between all three municipalities, plus agreements with neighbouring ones, ensures all emergencies can be handled.

“And just because we’re a little down on membership, that doesn’t mean emergency services in the area are compromised,” Koflick noted.

“We’ve got a very good working relationship with our mutual-aid partners and we all chip in to make sure whatever needs to be done, gets done.”

 Koflick is always upfront with new recruits and lays out not only the benefits, but the challenges. Prospective firefighters should first go to the town website and fill out a recruitment application. Following that, Koflick talks one-on-one with the candidate to make sure they know what they’re getting themselves into.

“The culture of emergency services is that we’re kind of a family. We work together in the best of times and in the worst of times. It’s a very unique situation. And to find the right people that can fit on the team … the people have to be unique. We’ve had people that eat, sleep and breath fire. And we have people who join because they want to help the community and give back,” said Koflick.

“And I’m upfront with new recruits and I don’t want to waste anyone’s time. That said we have a spot for people of all walks of life … all backgrounds and experiences.”

For more info check out http://www.westlock.ca/p/fire-department or https://www.westlockcounty.com/departments/fire-services/.

George Blais, TownandCountryToday.com

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