A donation of $11,000 from the Four Rivers Co-op’s Community Support Fund is being made to the Fraser Lake Fire Rescue Training Society.
The money will go towards the purchase of a Wildfire Sprinkler Protection System which provides water guards to protect structures of up to two miles during wildfires.
“The Fraser Lake Fire Rescue Training Society’s purposes are to provide a safe, adaptive, and challenging training environment for regional firefighters, other emergency services organizations, and industry first responders,” says Fraser Lake Fire Rescue Training Society President Dave Christie.
“Our Regional Fire Rescue Training Facility will provide a safe training environment, create realistic training scenarios, and include a Wildfire Sprinkler Protection Unity. The Sprinkler Protection Unit (SPU) training will assist in filling this provincial wide SPU Specialist void.”
Last summer’s wildfires were the main driver in the decision for the society to pursue the sprinkler system.
“With what happened in 2017, with the wildfires down in the Cariboo and it being BC’s worst fire season, one of these units is not in our area so it was deemed that this is something the Training Society should look at,” Christie explains.
“Also it was noticed that there weren’t too many people within the province that were trained as Sprinkler Protection Unit Specialists so this is where this idea came from.”
This is one of 10 organizations receiving funding from Co-op’s Community Support Fund in 2017.