Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services

Rae-Edzo (Oct 28/05) - The Rae-Edzo volunteer fire department is short one important item - volunteers.

A team should have 15 to 20 volunteers. Rae-Edzo currently has six and they are actually members of the ambulance staff who recently volunteered to take firefighter training.

The problem is a lack of dedication, said Elizabeth DeBaie who joined the team in February. On Oct. 3 there were 13 people at the fire department meeting, but on Oct. 17 there were only two.

"People go to the meetings and they get all excited and then they disappear," DeBaie said. Having enough volunteers is important. A minimum of three people are needed to respond to a fire, two people to run the hose and one to operate the pump. But to properly fight a fire there has to be seven or eight people, DeBaie said.

This summer things were close. When DeBaie joined in February there were five members on the team. During the summer, numbers dropped to two or three, she said.

Rae-Edzo had four fires over the summer.

The highest number of volunteers that responded was five. At one fire it was only DeBaie and two RCMP officers.

"We wouldn't have been prepared for a big fire," she said. The shortage of volunteer firefighters isn't limited to Rae-Edzo. It's a problem across the NWT, said Stephen Moss the assistant fire marshall of the NWT. Since the early 90s, Moss has seen the team in Rae-Edzo cycle through ups and downs. After a serious fire volunteer numbers always rise, he said.

Moss was in Rae-Edzo teaching the NWT defensive firefighter course that the ambulance staff had been taking for the last five Fridays. The course is centred on how to use the fire truck and the basic gear and how to contain fires to prevent them from spreading to other buildings.

The team should now be able to fight a fire safely, he said. But numbers are still low. There is experience in the community and Moss hopes to run a weekend course for 11 more people. The department is looking for anyone 18 and older who is dedicated.

Meetings for the volunteer fire team are held on the first Monday of every month at the Rae fire hall and on the third Monday of the month at the Edzo fire hall.

"We just need more community support," said DeBaie.