A16 Thursday, October 14, 2021 100 Mile House Free Press www.100milefreepress.

net

FIREFIGHT 2021
COMMUNITY APPRECIATION
Lac Lac Hache a department of ‘true volunteers’
Patrick Davies work that we do as Hache residents and to) slow down, take
100 Mile Free Press true volunteers to the “travelling public” your time and have
support the commu- is always their top pri- good winter tires on.”

T
he Lac La nity and the people ority, he said. Murphy said he’s
Hache Vol- travelling through our With winter on the always looking to re-
unteer Fire community is, to me, way, Murphy said cruit new firefighters
Department remains second to none.” his team is readying for the hall. The de-
a home for “true vol- Knocking on wood, themselves for the mographics of Lac La
unteers.” Murphy said that this “annual meeting of Hache tend to skew
That’s how fire chief year his department the summer tire club.” towards the older side,
Terry Murphy sees his has not been called to On the first snowfall so retention of crew
18-strong team of vol- any structure fires and of the year, he said members is always a
unteer on-call fire- have only fought four they tend to receive a challenge. Murphy
fighters. Murphy said grassfires. They were lot of calls for fend- said being a firefighter
that in his 16 years at also not called on to er benders, cars in is an amazing way to
the department he’s fight the wildfires and ditches and other ac- meet the community
seen a consistent com- instead spent the sum- cidents. and become deeply
mitment to the com- mer on standby, ready “We prep well in ad- involved with it.
munity and those who to assist other depart- vance of every season,” Anyone looking to
The Lac La Hache Volunteer Fire Department is made up of “true volunteers” according to fire chief Terry Murphy
pass through it from ments should the fires Murphy said. “As far join the department
(far left). (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
all of his comrades. have taken a turn for as the fall season, the is invited to call the
“I love firefighting. the worse. after our own folks Due to Lac La team responds to are ment has become sea- icy road conditions hall at 250-396-4112.
I love the crew that I “It was pretty chal- too, so we had to be Hache’s location motor vehicle inci- soned with redirecting coming up, we’ve al- Murphy said he listens
get to engage with, I lenging to be sitting ready to respond to along Highway 97, dents. These are often traffic and securing ready trained for all to the messages once
don’t like to say lead,” around but at the same anything,” Murphy Murphy said 95 per- serious high-speed ac- the scene. Preserving that. Winter is coming a week and will reach
Murphy said. “The time we have to look said. cent of the calls his cidents so the depart- the health of Lac La so (I’d ask the public out to any applicants.

Hawkins Lake offers rural support to residents

house fires out this way, ganizations,” Sobo said. a good number” given the lightning strikes for ex- help of a gaming grant - crew to be able to stay in
Melissa Smalley
100 Mile Free Press we do have the occasional “We receive money from small population of the ample, and we would go a repeater station, which touch better.”
chimney fire,” Teri Sobo, members through annual area. check it out,” Sobo said. was installed atop a hill Recruitment for the

I
n a remote communi-
ty like Hawkins Lake,
having help nearby in
the event of an emergency
is a benefit to all the res-
idents.
And for the past 32
years, the small, tight-knit
crew with the Hawkins
Lake Volunteer Firefight-
ers Association have been
ready to help whenever
needed.
“We don’t get many
president of the associ-
ation said. “We provide
what’s known as an initial
attack - if it’s a bush fire,
we will respond until there
is support from wildfire.”
The Hawkins Lake crew
is an independent hall,
meaning it’s not funded
by the Cariboo Regional
District.
“We do apply for grants
from time to time, through
BC gaming and other or-
dues, as well as donations
and other fundraising ef-
forts.”
There are currently
140 paid members in the
firefighters association,
which covers about 230
properties in the vicinity
of Eagle Creek Road and
Sellers Road although
not all the properties are
occupied. The fire crew
itself currently has 18,
which Sobo said is “quite
“Not everyone lives up
here full time, some are
just here in the summer
months,” she said.
Most of the wildfires
over this past summer
were outside of the Haw-
kins department’s jurisdic-
tion, even though the com-
munity was on evacuation
alert for several weeks.
“There were a couple of
spot fires that were called
into the department,
“But often it’s in a loca-
tion that we can’t get our
equipment in because it’s
too steep.”
Running a fire depart-
ment in such a remote lo-
cale - with no cellphone
service and oftentimes
spotty internet - comes
with its fair share of chal-
lenges, Sobo noted.
However, the depart-
ment was thrilled to be
able to purchase - with the
near the hall a few years
ago.
“In the past, they had
walkie talkies, but if some-
one wasn’t home or their
radio was in the truck, the
chain was broken,” she ex-
plained, noting that with
the new piece of equip-
ment, whatever messages
are sent to the tower are
“sprayed out” to all the
other radios in the area.
“It’s really helped the
Hawkins crew is “ongo-
ing,” Sobo said, with no
major requirements in
place to join - not even
full-time residency in the
area.
Given the small cover-
age area and the low call
volume at the Hawkins
hall, Sobo said a lot of
time is spent keeping the
firefighting equipment
in good working order
throughout the year.

Firefighters Mayor, Council and Staff would like

save more than homes. to extend our deepest gratitude
to all who supported the wildfire
They save hearts, memories effort this summer.
and dreams. Firefighters, BC Wildfire, FLNRO,
Thank you to our brave fire fighters, RCMP, SAR, ESS, our CRD partners,
emergency support services, and our local logging community.
local governments and all volunteers for
keeping us safe during the 2021 wildfires.
We thank you!

250-395-2921
Cariboo Mall, Hwy 97,
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