The 15 volunteer fire departments in the Cowichan Valley Regional District are getting a major funding boost from the province for new equipment and mental-health support.
The CVRD will use $210,000 from the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness to create a mental health peer-support team for the more than 350 first responders and firefighters in all its departments, said Robb Schoular, the CVRD’s fire rescue services manager.
That includes a four-day critical-incident, stress-management course to help firefighters better deal with the pressures of the job.
Schoular said funding for equipment, protective clothing and training will allow CVRD volunteer fire departments to reallocate their equipment and training budgets to other critical purchases, such as replacement air tanks, breathing apparatus, radio upgrades and replacing aging turnout gear.
The CVRD got one of the largest chunks of funding from the province’s announcement this week to provide $6.2 million for 200 volunteer and composite fire departments.
Other Island department funding included:
- Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District: Equipment and training, $85,354
- Capital Regional District: Equipment and training, $179,439.98
- Central Saanich: Structural protection unit improvement project, $30,000
- Comox: Washer for cancer mitigation, $30,000
- Comox Valley Regional District: Denman Island, Hornby Island, Fanny Bay, Union Bay, Oyster River, Merville, Mt. Washington, $208,750
- Cortes Island Fire Fighting Association: Wildfire-response capacity building, $30,000
- Cowichan Bay Improvement District: Improving structure fire response, $30,000
- Cowichan Tribes: Fire-service equipment, $22,000
- Cumberland: Exterior fire ground training, $30,000
- Ditidaht First Nation: Nitinaht Lake Fire Department, $26,000
- Duncan: Training, $30,000
- Extension Volunteer Fire Department: Equipment purchases to enhance fire-response capabilities, $30,000
- Gabriola Fire Protection Improvement District: Inventory enhancement, 30,000
- Gold River: Equipment procurement, $29,960
- Lake Cowichan: Enhancing firefighting capacity, $29,488
- Metchosin: Apparatus equipment update, $29,272
- Nanaimo Regional District: Wildfire-response and personal-protection equipment, $119,545.48
- North Cedar Improvement District: Wildland equipment purchase, $30,000
- North Cowichan: Wildland personal protective equipment, $30,000
- North Saanich: Volunteer personal protective equipment, $30,000
- Pender Harbour Fire Protection District: Equipment and training upgrade, $25,556.13
- Port Alice Fire Department: Breathing apparatus, $30,000
- Port Hardy: Modular fire-training facility, $30,000
- Sidney: Structure protection training, $8,000
- South Quadra Island Fire Protection District: Structure protection sprinklers, $11,400
- Tahsis: Training and equipment, $29,878.20
- Thetis Island Improvement District: Breathing apparatus upgrades, $30,000
- Ucluelet: Fire rescue turnout gear, $28,964.08
