New Democrat MLA for North Coast and Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Preparedness Jennifer Rice is welcoming over $110,000 in new provincial funding that will help fire departments in the Central Coast with equipment and training costs.
“Our volunteer and composite fire departments help keep our communities safe, and deserve support for their important work,” said MLA Rice. “These funds will help build resiliency in our small communities by ensuring local governments and First Nations have the tools they need to be ready for fires and other emergencies.”
Departments receiving funding in the Central Coast are:
Central Coast Regional District – $25,000.00
Hagensborg Waterworks Improvement District- $23,990.89
Noosatsaum Waterworks District- $24,374.44
Nuxalk First Nation- $24,367.08
Ocean Falls Improvement District- $12,729.00
Funding is provided through the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund (CEPF), and is part of $5 million in provincial emergency preparedness funding supporting fire departments in communities all across BC. This $5 million in funding is part of an additional $69.5 million investment the Province is making in the CEPF, with an expanded eligibility that includes volunteer and composite fire departments in First Nations communities.
This is part of an initiative by Emergency Management BC to increase resiliency in communities across British Columbia and improve BC’s overall emergency preparedness.
Since New Democrats formed government in July 2017, communities across B.C. have received more than $40 million through CEPF, which has enhanced the preparedness of local governments and First Nations communities for emergencies such as floods and fires.
