The Forest Grove Volunteer Department continues to seek more members ahead of the upcoming fire season and an increasing number of medical calls.
Chief Michelle Meeker said she has had just one member return to the fire department after the Cariboo Regional District lifted its vaccine mandate.
The fire department currently has 23 firefighters and four recruits for the two halls in Forest Grove.
According to the Fire Underwriters Survey, a full complement is 15 members per hall.
“People just don’t want to volunteer,” Meeker said.
The struggle comes as the fire department is recording an increase in calls, particularly for medical.
In 2022, 54 out of 100 calls were for first responders. First responders are volunteers trained to medically assist people prior to an ambulance arriving. Many first responders are also firefighters who respond to motor vehicle incidents.
Meeker said if they don’t have enough members, they may have to follow the lead of the Interlakes Volunteer Fire Department and cancel their first responder program. This would mean that “people will have to wait longer for the ambulance to arrive or not have any assistance till the ambulance arrives,” she said.
Forest Grove is not the only department facing a shortage of volunteer firefighters - it’s a problem seen across Canada.
A survey released by the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs in 2022 states the number of firefighters across Canada last year dropped from 156,000 in 2016 to 126,000, 90,000 of which are volunteers.
Meeker said the Cariboo Regional District has a recruitment campaign underway but other than that there is not much else they can do.
fiona.grisswell@100milefreepress.net
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