PORT HARDY, BC- Operations couldn’t be better at the Port Hardy Fire Department.
That’s the word from chief Brent Borg, who recently presented his quarterly report to the District of Port Hardy council.
“In the last quarter, we didn’t have any structure fires,” he noted.
“We had a vehicle fire and several assistance calls, but the last quarter was fairly quiet for calls.”
The department also responded to two chimney fires. In total, they went out to 38 calls for service, totaling 243 hours of work. Alarm activations were most common, followed by BC Ambulance Service lift assists and motor vehicle incidents.
Borg said that membership has also gone up over the last year.
“We focused very heavily last year, in October, at our open house during Fire Prevention Week on recruitment, and had a lot of people come check us out and a new life in the department is showing that people want to come and help,” he said.
“We still have new members coming into the department pretty regularly. They’re coming in through word of mouth more than anything.”
The department consists of seven officers, two senior firefighters, eight firefighters, eight rookies, six recruits and three staff members.
The growth in members has also resulted in an increase of firefighters at Hall Number Two at Storey’s Beach. Gavin Texmo was promoted to Deputy Chief, since the last report.
Justin Reusch was promoted to training captain, and Adam Harding is now Lieutenant.
Borg said community support has been incredible, with the Port Hardy Hospital Auxiliary Society donating $11,000 this quarter towards training and uniform upgrades.
“The ladies at the Hospital Auxiliary Society are amazing individuals, they are hard working and raise a lot of money to donate back into the community and they continue to support us on an ongoing basis,” he said.
“It never ends with those ladies.”
Funds they have raised are also going towards preparations for the department’s 50-year anniversary celebration in June.
In March, the department will be celebrating their 50th year, and Borg said the celebrations will take place on June 30th.
“We are going to invite all 270-plus members to come back and be thanked for their service to the community,” he said. The event will feature a formal firefighters ball.
In total, the department served 3,705 hours this quarter. That includes training, calls, meetings and general duty hours in Port Hardy.
