The Britannia Beach Volunteer Fire Department has been attending motor vehicle accident responses along much of the eastern coast of Howe Sound.
To respond to the scene of accidents, firefighters had been relying on a converted van, but the vehicle is limited in what it could do for emergency crews and approaching the end of its useful life.
“We had a large, one-ton van, but it didn’t hold enough equipment,” said Fire Chief Steve Virgint.
They removed the seats to create space for all their equipment in the vehicle, but others – like Area D Director Tony Rainbow – agreed it was time for the department something better.
“It really wasn’t adequate for the task,” Rainbow said. “It just wasn’t right.”
The department has combined with the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District to purchase a new purpose-built rescue truck to help with rescues in Britannia as well the area from south of Squamish to Porteau Cove. The new truck is being built by Intercontinental. The SLRD worked with the department and received bids from five qualified companies for the vehicle, which is expected to cost $108,803.52.
“It’s going to be custom-made. In fact, it’s being assembled right now,” Rainbow said.
The bodywork is being done according to the specifications they have drawn up. There will be customized storage on either side of the vehicle and easy access for all equipment, as well as other emergency features such as a winch.
“It’ll be quite the vehicle,” he said. “It’ll be a really first-class vehicle.”
In unincorporated areas of the regional district, communities are responsible for their own fire protection, though the SLRD can provide some support. For the new truck, most of the budget was covered by the department itself from money in a capital reserve fund.
“There’s not too much taxpayers’ money that’s gone into it. It’s mostly money that they’ve raised themselves,” Rainbow said.
The Britannia department raises funds through means such as charging for standby on film shoots, as well as donations and pooling call-out and training honorariums.
“There’s a lot of movies being shot in Britannia Beach,” Virgint said.
On a recent film shoot, the production team burned a house and had the department on standby, for which they were paid a fee.
“It goes into the capital reserve fund,” he said. “We do make a lot of money doing it for them.”
The department has also helped with first aid and standby for events like the Squamish Valley Music Festival.
“They had guys from the fire department the whole weekend,” Virgint said.
At present, the volunteer department has 30 members and it has a long history of providing service. As area director, Rainbow constantly meets other officials at conferences who have heard about the Britannia department and want to know more.
“They’ve heard of Britannia fire department and want to know how do we do it,” Rainbow said. “They’re known throughout the province.”
