Barbara Latkowski
Caledonia Courier
In an effort to keep Sowchea Fire Hall in operation, a new intake of recruit applications has been received by the Fort St. James Fire Department.
An information meeting was held on Feb. 3 at the satellite location and the turnout was impressive according to members of the department.
In total, 6 new applications were received and the extra recruit session will begin on Feb. 15.
“We’ve got a good number of applications and we are looking forward to the upcoming recruitment,” Fire Chief, Michael Navratil said.
Just a few weeks after celebrating their tenth anniversary on New Year’s Eve, members of the Sowchea Fire Hall were faced with some unexpected news.
The fire hall’s insurer advised that insurance may be suspended or even refused based on the fire protection area not being able to maintain a roster of 10 members.
In response, the extra recruit session was put in place.
The department is still, however, running a prescheduled recruit course on April 18. The deadline for these applications is April 4.
“The plan for this course is to have another intake of juniors from the high school as well as adults,” Navratil said.