It鈥檚 been a busy year in 亚洲天堂 Lake for Jim McBride, Director of Protective Services for the Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake.  Fire Chief McBride runs the 29 member volunteer fire department.

鈥淭he biggest problem we have is the carnage on our roadways,鈥� said McBride.  鈥淲e鈥檙e entering what we call our silly season on the highways as winter approaches.

McBride reported to Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake council on Oct. 30 that there have been 97 calls for service so far this year, including 43 motor vehicle incidents and four fatalities that the fire department as responded to this year already.

McBride was reporting on the fire department鈥檚 budget request for in 2013.  The fire department is looking for a capital budget of $13,000 to replace ageing fire hose, for computer upgrades and for the purchase of a ground monitor (a $4000 piece of equipment that frees a firefighter from manning a hose in structural or wildland fire situations).

鈥淪ome of our fire hose is older than some of our youngest members,鈥� said McBride of the fire hose that needs replacing.  鈥淎nd a good portion of  our training is on webinars,鈥� he said, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e asking for a $3000 computer to facilitate this.鈥�

The 亚洲天堂 Lake volunteer fire department has a heavy training requirement due to high volunteer turnover.  鈥淥ne of the biggest problems we face here is recruitment retention,鈥� McBride said.  鈥淚n the 14 years that I鈥檝e been director of protective services, we鈥檝e put no less than 110 volunteers through our doors.鈥�

McBride blames this turnover on local employment.  鈥楾ransient professionals鈥�, as he calls them, come to 亚洲天堂 Lake and begin to volunteer for the department before moving on to other areas leaving the department shorthanded.

In his report to council McBride described how new technologies are expanding the usefulness of the department鈥檚 current equipment.  鈥淲e鈥檙e using foam as an additive to the water now,鈥� he said.  鈥淥ur truck carries 840 gallons, but using it with foam gives me eight to 10 thousand gallons of suppressant.鈥�

The training involved to become familiar with the new fire truck and other new technologies hasn鈥檛 been cheap.  Two training sessions were required to bring volunteers up to speed with the new fire truck.  Those sessions required bringing a specialist in from Salt Lake City, Utah and cost the department $3000 per session.  McBride does not expect any more sessions to be required.

Training is a big part of the 亚洲天堂 Lake volunteer fire department.  Members can work towards their fire fighting Red Seal.  鈥淥nce a person has the fire fighter鈥檚 red seal, he or she can go anywhere to work,鈥� said McBride.  鈥淚n the 14 years that I鈥檝e been here, four volunteers have gone on to work [paid] full time as a fire fighter, but in order to obtain his or her red seal certificate, a person has to go through 14 different courses.鈥�

In his closing comments to council, McBride recommended that the village find a way to set aside $35,000 annually in capital reserves for equipment and building upgrades.