A Texada Island volunteer fire department is looking to expand its medical first-responder program, but first has to find the money.
Van Anda Volunteer Fire Department chief Mike Craggs said the department’s first-responder program has been operational for the past seven years, but as the need across the whole island increases he would like to see his program expand as well.
“Everyone supports it, but nobody has any money,” said Craggs. “The day-to-day is pretty cheap; it's the training that's expensive.”
The fire department needs about $20,000 extra to provide training for eight volunteers and provide them with the gear to get started, said Craggs. He added that he has six interested people right now.
Gillies Bay Volunteer Fire Department chief Doug Paton said expanding the program is a good idea if the money and dedicated volunteers can be found.
"We do support it," said Paton, "but they have to have some way to fund it and to govern it."
Powell River Regional District is not permitted to provide funding for a fire department that it does not operate, even if it is in the jurisdiction.
Texada Island has two fire departments, both are not funded by Powell River Regional District, but by the local improvement districts in Van Anda and Gillies Bay.
Craggs said that he cannot ask the taxpayers of Van Anda, roughly one-third of the island’s population, to foot the bill.
One-third of Texada’s population lives in Gillies Bay and the remaining one-third outside either of the jurisdictions, he added.
"The hard part,” said Craggs, “is that the other sections of the island really want this but we have no way of taxing them."
Van Anda Volunteer Fire Department has an agreement with BC Ambulance Service to render support. First responders are trained to a level just under paramedics and provide the ambulance service with increased capacity, said Craggs.
"This is not just putting band-aids on scratches," he said. "You're dealing with vomit, blood and people who are really sick."
