McLeese VFD Putting on Demonstration for More Efficient Fire Fighting Tech

A demonstration of “more efficient” firefighting technology is being put on tomorrow, May 7, at 4 p.m.

The McLeese Lake Volunteer Fire Department is putting on a demonstration for all neighbouring Cariboo fire departments to see the Trident Pump System.

McLeese Lake Fire Chief Linda Bard says this Trident system could lead to more efficient and effective firefighting for the Cariboo fire departments.

Bard describes the pumping system coming with the pumping apparatus, three miles of hose, “every fixture you would need”, and two side-by-sides with extra hoses and attachments too. The pump would go into a river or lake near a fire, and pumps water out of the hoses at 1200 PSI.

“Essentially, it’s more efficient than any of our trucks would be in that situation,” says Bard. “It can also go off-road because of the side-by-sides. So it can go through brush or whatever else you’d need to get to a river or lake, depending on where the fire is located.”

The demonstration tomorrow will be held at the McLeese Lake Fire Hall, which is the local Emergency Support Services centre for multiple communities. The demonstration will show how the Trident Pump can be set up in 20 minutes, which Bard will be timing, and offer water coverage for the Centre’s entire vacinity.

The cost of one trident pump is $700,000, expensive for each of the nine fire halls attending the demonstration; however, Bard says its “insignificant in the big picture.” The provincial government has spent a considerable amount more than that to combat wildfires in 2024. Bard believes, that having a trident pump would help mitigate fires and be more sustainable in the region.

“If the government would give grants to communites, and have one within a 200 kilometre radius. Within two hours, you’ve got a full functioning mass ability to put out wildfires so much more efficiently than anything in Forestry… After the 2017 fires and the struggle we had, it would just have been so much more efficient. We could have got it all working out of the Fraser River. We would never have run out of water and it would’ve been out instead of fighting it for three days.”

The demonstration is on Wednesday, May 4, at 4 p.m. at the McLeese Lake Community Hall on Forglen Road. There will be a burger barbecue for all who attend the demonstration.