Quiet times with the Watch Lake – North Green Lake Volunteer Fire Department
When a fire department has no fire news to report, that is probably a good thing. Well, the Watch Lake – North Green Lake crew had only six call-outs in the past year and, with the exception of a mutual aid response at Lone Butte, none of these were very serious. The first responders, on the other hand, were kept quite busy with sixteen medical aid calls.
On a sad note, we lost two of our members in the first months of this year. In January, George Wilson passed away after a lengthy illness. George had been a fire fighter and first responder since 2004. For a short time he filled in as Acting Chief and in more recent years he took on the position of Accountability Officer. Just last month Bob Smith died suddenly. Bob was a very popular fire fighter and first responder and all of his neighbours and colleagues on the department are shocked and saddened by his passing. In February we also lost one of our most ardent supporters. Long-time resident of both the North and South sides of the lake, Alex Nowick, died at home.
With summer rapidly approaching our equipment is ready for the anticipated warm, dry weather and fire season. With the water carrying capacity of our pumpers and tenders plus the 250 gallon totes on the two pickups, we have just over 5,000 gallons of water “on wheels” ready for any fire call. There is an additional 8,500 gallons in reserve in the in-ground tank at Hall #1 and our trailer/pump system can draw water from the lake at several locations. The newest tender came equipped with dual pumps and can be used for initial response to wild fires. With this amount of preparation it’s a pretty good guarantee that we will have another quiet season.
We look forward to seeing everyone from the GLARA community at the annual bake and garage sale at Hall #2 on the May long weekend. We are also planning a summer open house and summer general meeting for a weekend in August. Look for an announcement on our website at www.glara.ca
