Buckland Fire and Rescue recognizes decades of service

“Some of the people we honoured today are people that started this department, were instrumental in getting it going, moving it forward, taking it to where we have it today. We started off with a small co-operative with one truck and grown to now we have 10 trucks,” said Ward Howat, Deputy Chief of Buckland Fire and Rescue.

The volunteers deal with fires, but they also do highway rescues and provide other emergency services.

The work they do keeps them busy in the community almost every day of the week, Howat said.

“There could be somebody at the hall doing maintenance or we could have somebody going out. We had about 148 calls last year that we attended,” he said.

They service highways in the Rural Municipality (RM) of Buckland and highways all the way up to Weyakwin.

Firefighters face a number of challenges when they work in a wide area like the RM. The biggest one is distance.

“You have to figure our response time, to the fire hall and then drive it out to where we are, it could be a half hour or longer,” said Shaun Stewart, who was recognized for 20 years volunteering with fire departments.

“That’s part of being a volunteer, living in a rural community.”

Stewart hasn’t always lived in the RM. Years ago his family moved from British Columbia, where he had volunteered as well.

But he said fitting in wasn’t an issue. One word captures what he likes about being a fire hall volunteer:

“Brotherhood, it’s the biggest thing. It doesn’t matter where you go … a brother’s, a brother’s a brother. I can go into any fire hall at any time and if you need help with anything you can just walk in and they’ll more than help you,” Stewart said.

He has a few different roles with the department. He is one of the captains, which means he’s one of the first to come through the doors when there’s a fire.

“Most of the time when you first head through that door it’s a wall of smoke that you walk into,” he said.

That means crawling on the floor and blindly searching for any bodies in the house. Recently Stewart was on one of those calls and came up empty-handed, luckily because the homeowner had been outside when the fire started.

Stewart also operates the Jaws of Life when there are major highway accidents. He appreciates the thanks that occasionally make their way back to the fire hall.

“People have come by the fire hall or send cards. A lot of the times if you help someone out of a car crash you never get to really know how they’ve done afterwards, so it’s nice when those people do stop by,” he said.

As for the Sunday awards, he admits it’s a good feeling.

“It’s good to know something I’ve dedicated 20 years to, to be looked at this way and be given an opportunity to come and be with peers that get the same thing,” Stewart said.

Those recognized at the service:

– Tony Yungwirth for 40 years
– George Yungwirth for 30 years
– Robert Bonin for 30 years
– George Bihun for 20 years
– Keray Wenzel for 20 years
– Donald Fabrick for 20 years
– Charles Cannon for 20 years
– Shaun Stewart for 20 years

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk

by paNOW

Buckland Fire and Rescue recognizes decades of service

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