The Baie Verte Volunteer Fire Department is currently down a vehicle.
It has been eight weeks since the 35-year-old vehicle gave out during a training night
The department bought it 10 years ago from a Nova Scotia department and had hoped to get a couple of years out of it before funding would come through for a new vehicle.
The department made repairs when possible, but the vehicle can’t be fixed because parts are no longer being made.
Instead, it sits outside the fire department building with signs imploring people to contact their local MHA to push for a replacement.
The vehicle was previously filled with the department’s hydraulic extraction tools — the Jaws of Life — its high angle rescue equipment and cold water rescue gear, among other items.
Most of that equipment now sits on a table waiting to be loaded onto one of the department's two pumpers should it be needed for a call.
Turning one of its pumpers into a rescue vehicle has created a situation Fire Chief Lorne Head would rather not be in.
“An accident can happen at any time,” he said. “We’re really coming into accident season and it puts a lot of pressure on the fire department.”
The department also looks after nearby Wild Cove and Coachman’s Cove.
With one pumper being assigned another role, the Baie Verte department can only respond to calls that won’t endanger the people of Baie Verte. In situations where they would normally send the rescue vehicle, they now must send one of the pumpers. It leaves only one pumper available for local emergencies.
That means if a call from outside the community were to come in while one of the pumpers was attending to another emergency, the Baie Verte department would have no other choice but to turn it down.
“We have to pick and choose where we want to go. We can’t leave Baie Verte without protection,” said Head.
To help circumvent the need for the Baie Verte department to respond with its extraction tools, it has been in contact with fire departments in La Scie and Springdale to help cover off the stretches of highway required in the interim.
It isn’t an ideal situation for his town, agrees Baie Verte Mayor Brandon Philipott.
“It is a drain on resources,” he said. “It's limited what we could provide.”
The town saw this problem coming and had been making repairs on the vehicle where they could.
Philpott said the town made multiple attempts to secure provincial government funding to replace its aging vehicle. The mayor indicated the town was promised twice that funding would be made available.
However, those promises have not come to fruition.
“It has been frustrating and the fire department is angry,” said Philpott.
The Central Voice requested an interview with Baie Verte-Green Bay MHA Brian Warr, but he was unavailable prior to deadline.
The Voice also requested information from the department of municipal affairs; however, further information was not provided prior to deadline.
