WESTLOCK — The pandemic may be over, but its effects, particularly the impact it had on volunteer firefighters, are still being felt.
Both the Town of Westlock and Westlock County fire departments are currently facing a “critical shortage” of firefighters and are desperately searching for volunteers.
“It’s critical. We’re definitely short at a few stations,” said Westlock County fire chief and manager of protective services, John Biro, noting the county is sitting at about 86 firefighters and was close to 100 at one time, while the town has 18 firefighters and wants to have about 35 members.
“When COVID-19 hit, we lost a lot of membership … and we couldn’t gather anymore because of the rules,” said Biro. “Then after COVID-19, the memberships didn’t come back so I think they either found other things to do or they just lost interest in volunteering, so when we get calls, we’re short-staffed.”
Biro said when a call does come in, they don’t know who will be able to answer and usually have just a handful of firefighters available. It’s important to understand that these volunteers also have work and family commitments outside of firefighting duties.
“You can only ask your employer to leave work so many times for a call,” he said, adding that many often work away from home as well.
Volunteer firefighters generally take about one call a week and practise one day a week, said Biro, pointing out the demands of the job can be hard on families if they are away volunteering a lot and also with work commitments. He said they cannot dictate the number of calls or hours they can work and that it’s “on call and when you are available.”
Junior firefighters can be as young as 17 years old and volunteers can be anywhere from 18 to 65 as long as they are interested and able, Biro noted, adding that volunteer firefighters are trained to the same standards as paid firefighters in the city.
“Our training levels are the same as what you’d find in the cities. It may take our members longer to obtain that but in the end, by the time they retire typically they’re 1001 (training) level is the same as you’d find in the cities,” he said.
With the pandemic behind them, the town and county are pushing to get volunteer numbers back up and re-spark the interest in volunteer firefighting.
“We always need a backup for our members, it’s two in and two out,” said Biro. “You’re always in a team so you’re watching each other’s back. It’s pretty difficult to do that when you maybe only have three or five (firefighters).”
Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter can pick up an application form at the Westlock County or Town of Westlock office.
