The Interlakes Volunteer Fire Department First Responder program has returned to the Interlakes area.
It was suspended last December because of a lack of volunteers and Fire Chief Paul Beer said they now have 11 licenced First Responders and several others that are getting their licences renewed.
Beer said while the program was suspended they were hearing from a lot of members of the community.
“They were quite nervous about logistically where we’re located in relation to how long an ambulance takes to come from town so what this means is when they call 9-1-1 they can expect Interlake First Responders to be responding and to help them in their time of need and in a timely fashion.”
Beer noted that now that the program is back up and running, they are going to be reaching out pretty actively to the community to get more volunteers for both the Fire Department and First Responders.
“The First Responder Program is a really big part of our call volume.” Beer said, “Last year about ninety percent of our calls were First Responder calls and we are definitely looking for members of the public who are interested in coming out and seeing what the program is about they’re always welcome to contact the department directly and we’d be happy to show them around. We’re always looking for more volunteers and especially within the First Responder program”.
The Interlakes Volunteer Fire Department announced the return of the First Responder program on their Facebook page this past Monday (June 12).