100 Mile Fire Rescue will be taking the month of February to acquire new recruits for their department.
One way they’re going to tackle the task is by looking outside 100 Mile House for a better chance to bring in new applicants.
Roger Hollander, Fire Chief, will be giving a presentation to the upcoming fire fighter graduates at the Justice Institution of BC.
“This is actually the first time that I’m doing this presentation down there in the lower mainland, but it’s not the first time I’ve been able to make sure we cast that net a little bit larger than just 100 Mile House.” says Hollander.
“So, this is just another tool that I thought of to be a little more creative this year.”
Both 100 Mile Fire Rescue and the Justice Institution teaches the 1001 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard, so the new hires will have similar training.
He says this year they’re looking to get five or six on-call firefighters to improve the department as they’ve been fairly bus as of late.
Whether it’s been challenging for the department to bring in new recruits, Hollander says he can’t say for sure as there are various reasons as to why.
One he did point out is how most of Canada uses volunteer or on-call firefighters.
He says that there needs to be a change to the volunteer system, and have something more permanent in place, as the current system isn’t sustainable.
The department has seen previous hires leave to pursue a full time career in fire fighting.
Even though 100 Mile Fire Rescue is taking this month to hire, Hollander says they’re always open to applications throughout the year.
An application for a position can either be found at the fire hall, or on their website here.
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