Volunteer fire brigade forms in Knutsford, funding an immediate obstacle

KAMLOOPS — Following the Canada Day lightning strikes that gave Kamloops and area residents a wildfire scare, a group from Knutsford is attempting to take their fire fate in their own hands.

The Knutsford Volunteer Fire “Brigade” is independent from any firefighting organization and is unrecognized as an official fire department.

James Bethell, a Knutsford resident, a former volunteer firefighter in the County of Grande Prairie, and the brigade’s president, says the inspiration to form the group came after he and his neighbours were able to put out a handful of fires that emerged in mid-July.

“I was really concerned of the safety aspect of untrained folks with no personal protective equipment going out and fighting fires,” Bethell told CFJC Today. “People are going to help each other and not wait for the cavalry to come, if they do. You’ve got ranchers with their pickup trucks and cage totes in the back with 275 gallons of water and a Princess Auto trash pump and 50 or 100 feet of hose with a Hansen nozzle on the end.”

Incidents where wildfires ravaged through communities such as Lytton and Monte Lake heightened the anxiety for Bethell and other Knutsford residents. He says they’re aware of how vulnerable Knutsford is of wildfire danger. Especially after the heat dome in late June caused the rural area to see temperatures above 40 C.

“So far, we’ve had help from Kamloops Fire Rescue,” Bethell says. “They’ve been really good about attending to our fires that are outside of city limits. Of course, they’re not supposed to, and we can’t always rely on them breaking the rules to come help us. We do have BC Wildfire Service attending, but even at the meeting with the TNRD, they said later in the fire season as resources become stretched thin, you’re on your own. So, we’re doing it on our own.”

The immediate task for the brigade was to find out what they could do to better equip their members and ensure their safety, making the responses more effective. So far, Bethell said they’ve had 20 members of the community qualified with their S100 (Basic Fire Suppression and Safety) and S185 (Fire Entrapment) training.

The Knutsford Volunteer Brigade’s challenge going forward is funding. Bethell says the brigade’s plan is to purchase equipment and focus on training, rather than have a central fire hall.

While the TNRD has volunteer fire departments in communities such as Loon Lake and Pritchard, Board Chair Ken Gillis says they’ve been legally advised not to fund the Knutsford brigade.

There were other fire brigades we had hoped to be able to fund, and we just found that we couldn’t do it,” Gillis says. “If we were funding that department, we would be seen in the eyes of the law – according to our legal advice – a parent organization to the fire brigade. If one of their own people got injured or killed, the estate could probably pursue the TNRD. If some property owner thought the brigade had done something improper in terms of fighting a fire or neglecting to do something or causing more damage than they prevented, then we would be potentially liable for that as well.”

Gillis says if Knutsford can come up with the tax base in forming a recognized fire department, he’s sure the TNRD would assist them in establishing it. Although he believes a full-fledged fire department is out of the question.

“For them to establish a full-fledged volunteer fire department, they would require all kinds of equipment and a fire hall,” Gillis says. “We discussed this at the initial meeting that they convened in Knutsford and explained the cost of establishing a fire department is somewhere in the neighbourhood of $2 million. It’s out of the question for the number of taxpayers they have; they would be spreading it over too thin an area to make it viable.”

Gillis adds the TNRD has offered training facilities for the Knutsford brigade and invited them to partake in their “Voyent Alert!” system.

In the meantime, Bethell says the Knutsford brigade is trying to achieve charitable status to open up fundraising opportunities.

The Knutsford Volunteer Fire Brigade is accepting donations online and in person through the Rosehill Farmer’s Institute.