The Castlegar Fire Department (CFD) has been serving the people of Castlegar for over 75 years. The department has grown over the years under the hand of long-term fire chief Gerry Rempel and now under chief Sam Lattanzio.
The department has 34 members on the roster and 20 of those are fully qualified to the National Fire Protection Association Level 1 and 2 standards. The remaining members are in different stages of training to reach that highest level of certification.
The CFD has a wide scope of responsibilities and many of those responsibilities require extra training in things such as hazard materials operations, vehicle extrication, first responder skills, and airport/aircraft protection skills.
The CFD covers all fire-related calls within the municipal boundaries and is on contract with the RDCK to cover the region south of town that includes Fairview.
They are also responsible for highway rescue and vehicle entrapments from the top of the Bombi Summit to the Nancy Green Junction on Highway 3, north on Highway 3A to beyond the Brilliant Dam and south to the Castlegar side of China Creek on Highway 22. They also cover Pass Creek Road up to Goose Creek Road and Broadwater Road all the way up to Deer Park and beyond.
The department also provides fire protection services for the West Kootenay Regional Airport, shore-based water rescues, support for the Emergency Operations Centre and has mutual aid agreements with fire departments in the surrounding areas.
CFD is a volunteer fire department, but its members get paid for attending calls. Three senior staff members have full-time career positions: Deputy Chief Duane Monsen serves as the municipal emergency program coordinator along with his other duties, Deputy Chief Nick Ahlefeld is in charge of inspections, education, and prevention efforts, and Chief Sam Lattanzio looks after the department as a whole.
The department is responsible for fire safety inspections of commercial properties in the city, inspecting almost 300 each year.
The department responded to 849 calls in 2017. Lattanzio says that while there has been a decrease in nuisance-type calls, the number of 911 calls has been steadily increasing in recent years.
CFD Annual Call
Volumes 2017:
Fires – 70
Highway rescue/Jaws of Life – 42
Rescues – 64
Aircraft – 1
Motor Vehicle Accidents – 50
Hazardous Materials – 18
First Responder – 54
False Alarms – 57
Standby – 152
Public Service – 113
Complaints – 53
Other calls – 175
CFD Firefighters and years of service:
Chaplain Gerry Rempel – 45
Deputy Cief Duane Monsen – 30+
Capt. Brad Makortoff – 31
Safety Officer Ike Braga – 27
Tony Mackie – 27
Sid Floyd – 26
Capt. Jim Postnikoff – 25+
Chief Sam Lattanzio – 25
Capt. Stuart Ady – 25
Capt. Rob Borsato – 20
Kelly Schultz – 15
Lt. Jesse Plotnikoff – 12
Deputy Chief Nick Ahlefeld – 11
Andy Roberts – 10+
Bart Fyffe – 6
Mark Smith – 5+
Lt. Laura Monsen – 5
Fewer than five years: Nicole Pedersen, Lee Creegan, Mike White, Jared Croteau, Jordan Croteau, Matt Howell, Sarah Bate, Tony Bergner, Carling Chown, Allie Chown, Dave Blancher, James McFaddin, Simon Villecourt, Jacob Cramton, Nick Pieszak, Dawn English and Angus Marshall.
