Ellison Fire Dept. holds fall recruitment drive

Calling all aspiring heroes, the Ellison Fire Department is holding their fall recruitment drive.

They’re looking to add new paid-on-call firefighters to add to their roster in anticipation of current volunteer members moving on.

“We’ve had three people in the last year that actually took jobs locally here in the fire department or who moved away. This is just making sure that we have enough [firefighters] for the future,” Fire Chief David Bates told Kelowan10.

Bates has been with the service for 15 years.

He didn’t anticipate being involved for as long as he has after seeing an ad in the newspaper years ago. But he said that he enjoys giving back to people in need.

“[It's for people] who want to be part of a community resource that is available and actually is looking to provide assistance to the community,” he explained. “Whether it’s from flooding or training, or fire prevention or putting fires out and wildfires. All those kinds of things are things that people would be interested in doing and helping out.”

He said it's always a good feeling to help people out in stressful situations, whether it’s an emergency or a fire.

Successful applicants are taught valuable skills in battling fires, first medical response training, and drills are run out at the airport. Station 61 looks out over the runways.

These types of skills could be valuable to anyone working toward becoming a full-time firefighter as their career.

Another rewarding aspect of joining the hall, according to Chief Bates, is that you get to become part of a larger community.

“We all stick up for each other,” Bates said. “When you’re joined in with people that are doing the same firefighting things around the world there’s an automatic brotherhood because you've got a similar purpose and it’s great”.

The regional district says ‘the RDCO Fire Services objective is to save lives and property, and as a Paid-on-Call Firefighter dedication to meeting this objective is critical.’

The RDCO website has posted the ‘Paid-on-Call Firefighter Recruitment Manual’.

The positions are open to male and female applicants aged 19-65 in good physical condition and who want to help.

Potential members must live within 8 km’s of Station 61 at 4411 Old Vernon Road.

Applications are available at rdco.com/firerecruit and are accepted until Oct. 15. Those interested are also encouraged to also call 250-469-6155 or email Ellison.chief@rdco.com.