Mirror Fire Department’s days could be numbered.
Chronically short of volunteers, the department and Lacombe County put out an urgent call for volunteers over the summer.
A dozen volunteer firefighters are required to keep the department viable. But only five regulars have been available to answer calls in the hamlet for many months.
Emergency calls have been handled by Alix Fire Department, which has around 30 volunteers, and is based less than 10 km away.
Around 50 Mirror residents turned out for a community meeting in July to discuss the department’s future, and there was enthusiasm for keeping it open.
Keith Boras, county manager of environmental and protective services, said seven applications have been received in recent weeks but some are short important information, such as criminal record checks, or commitments to training.
“We’re still short,” said Boras. “We’ve got the numbers but the quality wasn’t there, I guess is the best way to put it.”
County council is expected to decide next month whether the department is viable.
Boras said the changing nature of the hamlet has a lot to do with the difficulty in finding volunteers.
“It’s a situation where the population of Mirror has been declining and the demographics have been changing,” Boras said on Monday. “Mirror’s demographic has gotten a lot older in the years we’ve been looking after it.”
Mirror residents voted in 2002 to dissolve the village and it become a hamlet overseen by Lacombe County in 2004.
Boras said there are no longer enough prime volunteer firefighter candidates employed in the community. Many of those who are there have already done their volunteer firefighter stints or are retirement age.
“While it’s fine to have a mix of ages on the fire department you still need a majority of guys who can actually do the physical work.”
Also making it more difficult to recruit firefighters is the increasing level of training and commitment required to meet standards and protect the county from liability.
If the department closes down, Alix will take over, and so far that has gone well, he said.
“On the up side, Alix has been able to handle everything out there in a really good manner. So far, it hasn’t really created any issues for us in regards to responses.”
pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter