Fire fighting service training in West Kootenay gets a boost

Feb. 22, 2023, West Kootenay, B.C. – Nearly $500,000 will be landing in the lap of regional district fire services as the province looks to bolster fire fighting response in the West Kootenay.

The province’s Emergency Management and Climate Readiness ministry will be handing the Regional District of Central Kootenay $480,000 “to bolster fire fighting response to make people and communities safer.”

The impetus of the grant cycle was to support communities with fire services delivered by volunteer or part-volunteer fire departments.

Although the grant is earmarked for fire service training, how that money will be spent locally and in which communities was not revealed.

For small rural fire departments, increasing expectations regarding emergency response services can be a challenge when serving communities with a small tax base. As a result, the grant funding will go toward meeting training and equipment needs that might have taken an extra year or two with normal resources.

Across the province, 114 volunteer and composite fire departments will receive a share of $6.3 million the ministry has designated for fire fighting response.