Fire Department

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Fort St. James Volunteer Fire Department

The Fire Hall is located at 374 Manson Street, with a satellite hall at 11700 Sowchea Road. The protection area covers all of the District of Fort St. James, Nak’azdli Reserves No. 1 and 2, and a large portion of Regional District of Bulkley Nechako Rural Area “C”.

The Fire Department provides the following services:

Fire prevention and education
Vehicle extrication
Fire suppression
Fire inspection
Burning permits
Emergency planning
Emergency operations centre
Fire training

The Department is managed by a full time Fire Chief, with fire protection and suppression provided by volunteers.

To become a volunteer please contact the fire hall: 250-996-8670.

History

In the mid 1940’s, Fort St James was protected by a group of men, utilizing a home built trailer to carry their equipment. The trailer was stored at the Hill residence, and the firefighters vehicles were equipped with a trailer ball to enable them to tow the trailer to the fire scene. Notification of fire calls was done by sounding vehicle horns to alert the firefighters.

Chief Carnell was the first fire chief. The first fire station in 1949 was a one bay garage located on the northeast end of the present firehall lot. This housed a 1949 Ford truck, equipped with a home built 1000 gallon tank and a water pump.

In the mid 1950’s the department recognized a need to reorganize and expand, thus on February 8th, 1955, at 20:15 hours the first official meeting was held and the Fort St. James Volunteer Fire Department was established. At this time the force consisted of nineteen members under the direction of the Fire Chief D. Stalker. Chief Stalker was in office until February 1958, when he moved to Edmonton, Alberta and Chief A. Mitchell took over the position.

In 1955, the Fort St. James Volunteer Fire Department bingo was started as part of the fundraising efforts for the new equipment, building maintenance and making donations to various groups in and around Fort St. James. The Ladies Auxiliary to the Fire Department is also active in fundraising for various projects and also to provide relief for burnt out victims in the Fort St. James Protection area.

Staff

Chief:
Deputy Chief: Kelly Burdeniuk
Office Assistant:

Fire Fighters: