Port Hardy Fire Chief Brent Borg delivered his last quarterly report of the year to Port Hardy Council, and some of the numbers released might surprise you.
“This year we’ve had 134 calls totalling 1,160 hours of attendance at incidents,” wrote Borg. “Last quarter there were 63 incidents totalling 557.5 hours of service to attend calls.”
Borg added Port Hardy Fire Rescue’s new ladder truck has “been used at four calls since purchasing, including; one roof fire, one chimney fire, one rescue off the high school roof, and most significantly, one apartment fire in which Ladder 17 played an integral roll in stopping the fire from spreading to other units.”
As for training courses, Borg confirmed Port Hardy Fire Rescue has completed Beyond Hoses and Helmets, Interior Team Leader, VIERA Evaluators Course, First Aid and Transportation, S-100 Basic Fire Suppression, and they also planned and executed a live burn at the Tsulquate Reserve that had “members from all mutual aid towns participating in the event.”
Membership-wise, Port Hardy Fire Rescue has 19 officers and firefighters, one rookie, two recruits, and two staff members. Borg warned they have “one officer on medical leave, and membership is at an all time critical low”, and Port Hardy Fire Rescue has invested “a great deal of time and money on a recruitment drive in which we have printed up flyers to be posted at local businesses.”
This year Port Hardy Fire Rescue has been involved in several community events, which include:
Hosting the Annual Ladies Auxiliary Thank-you dinner in which they cooked, served and catered to the ladies for a fun filled evening;
A fundraiser BBQ with the help of Marine Harvest on the Filomi Days weekend;
School Tours at Hall #1;
Fire trucks used in the Filomi Days parade and hosted the Fireworks for Filomi Days; and
Escorted the Cops For Cancer riders into town.
Borg concluded his quarterly report by acknowledging and thanking the Ladies Auxiliary for once again supporting Port Hardy Fire Rescue. “Ladder 17 was equipped with over $34,000 of equipment thanks to their donation,” he said, adding while membership is at an all time low, “morale is up, members feel they have a say and have positions that they are responsible for, which in turn increases confidence and retention of members.”
Quick end of the year numbers for Port Hardy Fire Rescue:
Call Hours 1159.04;
Training Hours 1983;
Meeting Hours 437;
General Duty Hours 2561.5;
Officer Member Hours 525;
Certificate Hours 450; and Total Member Hours 7115.54.
