Rawdon F.D. desperately needs recruits

BY CHRISTY MARSTERS

The Hants Journal

NovaNewsNow.com

The Rawdon District Fire Department is in desperate need of recruits close to home.

Fire chief Jeff Bond said there are roughly 30 members in his department, when ideally he would like to have 35. However, the real problem lies in finding those who are able to attend calls during the day. “Daytime hours (from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.) are where we hurt,” he said. “A lot of the people on this department work in town, during regular hours, and often it’s luck to have two or three people show up for a call in the day,” Bond said. “At times there’s only one person; on a good day we will get four or five. We rely lots on mutual aid.”

Neighbouring departments in Gore and Brooklyn often assist with mutual aid and first response calls to this area, Bond said. “Sometimes we go weeks on end without a call and other times they come in buckets and you never know what you’ll jump into. Yet, be it drive trucks, hold flags or do more, there is always a job for someone.”

The job is demanding and takes up a lot of time, but being able to help someone else is very rewarding, he added. “But no one seems to want to volunteer or no one has the time for it, I guess. I don’t know. We’ve tried everything and had a few trickle in. “More people who work night shifts joining would help us a lot,” Bond said. “I know people moving away and the demand on people makes it hard, but if you could do it, do it. It is a real chance to learn just about anything you could ever want to learn. “A lot of people have joined the department because they know they’re going to help someone and it makes them feel good about themselves,” Bond said. “I first joined when I was 18 years old because a retiring chief asked me to come out and try this. I never left because I enjoyed it too much.”

Rawdon District Fire Department covers emergency first response and mutual aid in the area between where West Hants and East Hants meet on route 14 and the Upper Nine Mile River limit. This department will also travel further to assist in mutual aid.

Anyone interested in joining can contact Bond at 632-2642 or stop in to the department on a Monday night (between 7:30-8 p.m.) and pick up an application.