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New fire department Jeanne Gagnon Northern News Services Published Monday, November 7, 2011
Kugluktuk had been without an active crew for the last year or so when the old crew became inactive for reasons Mayor Ernie Bernhardt would not comment on. He said the community was lucky no fires broke out during that period. "We're starting a brand new generation of firefighters," he said. "We have eight right now and four more people who have just signed up. That would give us a total of 12 firefighters." Eight men aged 18 to 30 undertook a week-long general training course in Kugluktuk before four moved on to the Level 1 courses in Cambridge Bay and the Level 2 training in Rankin Inlet. "For one thing, we're more at ease now during the night time knowing we have our own people who are trained in courses for fighting fires," said Bernhardt. "We just sleep better at night and we know, not to take anything from the other crew, they are committed to serving the people on safety issues in the community." He said council was concerned about Kugluktuk's lack of an active firefighting crew, so they passed a motion to create a new one. Bernhardt said council felt waiting for a fire to break out before taking action was not the right thing to do. Nunavut Fire Marshal Robert Prima said he was glad to hear Kugluktuk would have an active fire department again. "It's excellent news for us," he said. "It's good to see they have members in the community that are volunteering their time, not only for fighting fires but taking the training. We are concerned when they don't have active members."
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